The primary focus of this blog is evaluating Big West prospects, and some of them can be puzzling to assess. Cal Poly left-hander Christopher Downs is one such case – a 6’7″ southpaw who doesn’t light up the radar gun but offers an intriguing mix of size, extension, and feel for pitching. I wasn’t sure how to evaluate Downs at first. College-level “pitchability lefties” (finesse left-handers who rely on craft and command) often give me pause, yet Downs has just enough raw clay in his build and arsenal that it’s easy to imagine a pro team taking a gamble on him. His fastball only sits in the high-80s (87–89 mph), but with his towering frame and excellent down-mound extension, it plays faster. Meanwhile, he backs it up with a slider that generates swings-and-misses over 40% of the time and a changeup he can rely on to keep hitters off balance. In an era obsessed with velocity, Downs presents a bit of a throwback profile – and one that might just have pro scouts intrigued.
After a modest freshman year in 2024 (2-0, 6.65 ERA over 21⅔ innings), Downs made significant strides as a sophomore. He transitioned into a key bullpen arm for the Mustangs’ Big West championship team, where he posted a 4.09 ERA and a perfect 6-0 record across 25 appearances. Despite not making any starts, he often worked multiple innings in relief and even earned All-West Coast League honorable mention the previous summer with a 1.59 ERA in collegiate summer ball. By the end of 2025, he had become one of Cal Poly’s most reliable arms, and his Cape Cod League performance this summer (1.83 ERA with Yarmouth-Dennis) further solidified his upward trajectory. There’s a sense that Downs is just scratching the surface of what he could become. If he can build on his momentum with a strong spring, his name will be firmly on the radar when draft time comes around.
- Height/Weight: 6’7″, 215 lbs
- DOB: July 25, 2005
- Bats/Throws: Right/Left
Player Profile
- Build: Tall and long-limbed. Downs has an imposing 6’7” frame with a high waist. Though listed around 215–230 lbs, he is more lean than bulky, leaving room to add strength. His height gives him a natural downhill release angle, allowing him to throw on a tough plane to hitters.
- Delivery: He stays tall throughout his motion and doesn’t sit deeply into his back leg. His stride is short-to-moderate for someone with his height, and instead of driving his back knee forward, he rotates around a firm front side. That keeps him upright and limits the power contribution from his lower half. Most of his velocity comes from torso rotation and arm speed, rather than a strong kinetic chain from the ground up.
- Arm Action: Downs has a loose, whippy arm that comes through from a low three-quarters slot. The arm path is relatively compact in the back — he doesn’t have a long, sweeping arm swing — and he accelerates quickly through release. His hand pronates naturally after release, giving him some finish and helping sell his off-speed stuff.
Pitch Arsenal
Fastball: Downs’ fastball typically sits in the 86-89 mph range, topping out around 90 mph. While that velocity is not overwhelming, the pitch plays up thanks to his extension and angle. Coming from his 6’7” frame and whippy low-three-quarters release, the fastball gets on hitters with a downhill plane and some natural run. He spots the pitch well to both sides of the plate and isn’t afraid to challenge hitters inside. Given his height and long arms, hitters often have difficulty picking up the ball, helping the heater miss barrels even without premium velocity. If Downs can add a tick or two of velocity in the future (more on that below), his fastball could become a solid-average offering. As it stands, it’s an adequately effective pitch that he uses to set up his off-speed stuff.
Slider: The slider is Downs’ most dangerous weapon. Thrown in the upper-70s to low-80s, it’s a two-plane breaking ball that he tunnels well off his fastball. The slider has late bite, generating a lot of ugly swings. In fact, Downs’ slider produced a whiff rate north of 40%, making it a bona fide swing-and-miss pitch for him. He has confidence throwing it in any count – to back-foot it against righties or sweep it away from lefties – and it often functions as his putaway pitch. College hitters struggle to make contact with this slider once they are behind in the count. As he faces more advanced competition, the slider projects as at least an above-average offering that could miss bats at the pro level, especially if set up by improved fastball velocity.
Changeup: Downs also features a changeup in the high-70s, which has quietly been a very effective third offering. He maintains good arm speed on the changeup, helping sell it as a fastball before it fades away from right-handed batters. The pitch has mild sink and fade, and he typically uses it to keep righties off balance, often after showing them the fastball. While the changeup is not used as heavily as his slider, it has proven effective in eliciting weak contact and some swing-and-miss. He’s comfortable throwing the changeup for strikes and will use it in off-counts. It gives him a weapon to attack opposite-handed hitters, rounding out a solid three-pitch mix. Downs can throw his fastball, slider, and changeup all from the same arm slot, adding to his deception and making the changeup play well off his heater.
Mechanics and Deception
Mechanically, Chris Downs presents both strengths and opportunities for improvement. On the positive side, his delivery is relatively simple and repeatable. He has good balance and doesn’t have any glaring timing issues or violence in his motion. This has translated into good control (only 14 walks in 61.2 IP as a sophomore) and a consistent release point on all his pitches. Hitters have a tough time picking up the ball against him, in part due to the extension and the three-quarters slot creating unusual trajectories. However, the same tall, upright delivery that gives him angle is also leaving some velocity untapped.
Downs currently generates most of his power from his upper body, with limited contribution from his legs and hips. He remains very upright through his motion and doesn’t fully utilize the potential energy from his lower half. Pitching coaches often talk about taller pitchers needing to “learn to use their levers” – essentially, to better engage the glutes and drive off the back leg. In Downs’ case, improving his lower-half mechanics could unlock significant gains. Pro development staffs often focus on exactly this: teaching tall pitchers to sit into their backside and create more hip-shoulder separation during the stride. If Downs can learn to load his rear glute and drive more forcefully down the mound, it’s reasonable to expect his fastball velocity to tick up a couple of mph without sacrificing command. Indeed, Downs’ delivery currently looks like there is more in the tank – he has a loose arm and a big frame, so even a minor mechanical adjustment could lead to a jump from, say, 88 mph to 90–91 mph. It’s a positive sign that there’s still room for mechanical improvement in his game. Unlike a smaller pitcher who’s already maxed out, Downs has fixable areas in his delivery that, if addressed, could take his stuff to the next level.
In terms of deception, Downs benefits from his long limbs and low release point. He releases the ball closer to the plate than most college pitchers, which effectively makes his 87 mph fastball play faster in the batter’s box. Additionally, his ability to throw all of his pitches from the same arm slot adds an element of tunnel deception – hitters don’t get an early read on which pitch is coming. Downs does not employ any extreme gimmicks in his windup; it’s a fairly straightforward motion, but the extension and arm angle do the work of keeping hitters uncomfortable. If he can add that improved lower-half drive to his mechanics, he might also gain even more extension (and therefore deception), as his stride could lengthen and get him closer to home plate on release. All told, his current mechanics make him a strike-thrower with some funk, and potential tweaks could make him a late-blooming power lefty. It will be up to player development – either Cal Poly’s coaching staff in the short term or a professional organization down the line – to polish those mechanics for maximum output.
Outlook for 2026
Downs heads into his junior season in 2026 looking to cement himself as one of the Big West’s top pitchers. In 2025 he was used primarily as a multi-inning reliever and thrived in that role, often coming into games in the middle innings and shutting opponents down. However, Cal Poly might consider expanding his role moving forward. Late last season, Downs even showed he could handle a starter’s workload – most notably, in the Big West Tournament he threw a career-high 117 pitches over 6.1 innings in a win against UC Irvine. That outing demonstrated his endurance and effectiveness deep into games. Given that performance, the Mustangs’ coaching staff could be tempted to try him in the starting rotation in 2026, or at least use him in a similar fireman role where he regularly goes 3-5 innings at a time.
For Downs, the spring of 2026 will be a crucial window to boost his draft stock. He’s on the radar as a potential pro prospect, but to entice a team to draft him, he’ll want to show that any incremental velocity gains are sticking, that he can retire hitters multiple times through the order (if given starting opportunities), and that his swing-and-miss stuff plays consistently against high-level competition. If he can tick those boxes, some MLB team will likely be intrigued enough to take a gamble on his projection. College lefties with excellent feel but questionable velocity have historically been hit or miss in pro ball, which is why a strong junior year is vital for Downs. The good news is he’s trending in the right direction – his sophomore numbers and Cape League success already suggest a pitcher who is figuring things out. Another jump in performance (or stuff) in 2026 could solidify him as a draft-worthy prospect. And even if the fastball remains in the 80s, a continued track record of getting outs will make it easier for scouts to overlook the radar gun reading and bet on his combination of size, command, and secondary quality.
Projection
Chris Downs projects as a bit of a wild card, with a range of possible outcomes at the professional level. If things remain as they are – i.e. a high-80s fastball and good secondaries – he likely profiles as a crafty left-hander out of the bullpen. In that scenario, he could be a middle reliever or long-man who relies on mixing pitches and locating, somewhat in the mold of a situational lefty who can handle two innings at a time. However, if Downs can indeed find a few extra miles per hour and sharpen his mechanics, the ceiling rises. With a low-90s fastball to go along with his plus slider and solid changeup, Downs’ profile would resemble that of a back-end starter or swingman at the next level. His command of the zone and feel for pitching give him a solid foundation to build upon. It’s easy to see him carving out a role as a reliable innings-eater in pro ball if his stuff plays up just a bit more. On the optimistic side, you could dream on a 6’7” lefty who figures it all out and becomes a mid-rotation starter – but that would require significant development in velocity and consistency. More realistically, Downs’ likely future role is somewhere between a fifth starter and a multi-inning reliever, with his ultimate value hinging on whether that fastball can make the jump from fringy to average.
Ultimately, Downs is the type of prospect a team might gamble on in the middle-to-late rounds, hoping to unlock the remaining potential in his frame. He has already shown the pitchability, competitive mound presence, and ability to adapt to higher competition. If the velocity comes along, he could far exceed expectations. If not, his savvy and 6’7” angle could still give him a fighting chance to inch his way up the pro ladder as a matchup lefty. Downs has proven he can get outs with what he currently has; now it’s about proving he can get even better. In a sense, he’s exactly the kind of college arm that professional development staffs love to work with – big, coachable, with clear areas to refine. 2026 will go a long way in determining just how intriguing Chris Downs can be, but there’s enough raw material here that one shouldn’t bet against him making a name for himself at the next level.
| Fastball | Slider | Changeup | Command | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 55 | 50 | 55 | 50 |
Big West Dugout 