• Full name Stephen J. Fife
  • Born 10/04/1986 in Boise, ID
  • Profile Ht.: 6'3" / Wt.: 225 / Bats: R / Throws: R
  • School Utah
  • Debut 07/17/2012
  • Drafted in the 3rd round (85th overall) by the Boston Red Sox in 2008 (signed for $464,000).
    View Draft Report
    An Idaho native, Fife played in the Little League World Series in 1999, and two of his teammates have joined him this season as roommates and starters at Utah. Fife was just 160 pounds as a prep senior when the Utes first spotted him and he went to Everett (Wash.) CC for a year, pitching against wood bats. He put on 20 pounds that year and now checks in at a physical 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds. He pitched middle relief for much of 2007 before earning a rotation spot late in the year, and entered this season as a possible eighth- to 12th-round pick. He's just learning to pitch with power stuff and started to emerge as a popup prospect in April, when he was on the losing end of a 1-0 duel with San Diego State man-child Stephen Strasburg. While Strasburg struck out 23 in that game, Fife pitched well enough to win and has been at his best since, one-hitting Utah and ramping up his velocity. His fastball sits in the 89-92 mph range and has touched 95, and he's shown the ability to maintain velocity deep into games, with several 93s in the eighth inning of a recent start. Fife throws two breaking balls, a true curveball he can bury or throw for strikes and a decent, early-count slider. His changeup also shows good sink, though he could refine his location and arm speed with the pitch. A late bloomer, Fife just has started to dominate, with 44 strikeouts in 41 innings since the Strasburg matchup. He started getting crosschecked in late April in a game with New Mexico and senior lefty Bobby LaFramboise, and other teams were scrambling to have him scouted heavily enough to pick him in the first three rounds. He had as much helium as any player in the West.

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