Tyler Sample

Sample began the year behind Kentucky recruit Andy Burns on the Colorado pecking order, and he didn't figure to move up draft boards after perennial power Cherry Creek High torched him in his second start of the spring. But Sample bounced back from his only poor start to emerge as the state's best prospect and the latest heir to Colorado's recent pitching tradition. The state has produced six pitchers who were first-round picks since 1994--Scott Elarton (1994), Roy Halladay ('95), Brad Lidge ('98), Kyle Sleeth (2002), David Aardsma ('03) and Luke Hochevar ('06). While only Elarton and Halladay came out as high schoolers, Sample looks like he may sign prior to college as well, due to a big, physical body at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds. Sample's fastball sits 90-92 mph and touches 94 regularly when he's fresh, which wasn't always the case this spring; he sometimes started one day and then relieved three days later for his high school team, a dangerous proposition for a pitcher who already had Tommy John surgery as a prep sophomore. What separates Sample is his knuckle-curveball, an above-average pitch at times. It's especially impressive considering he's doing it at altitude. Sample has development to make, such as refining his command and finding a changeup, but his present stuff and body make him a good bet in the sandwich round.