Daniel Renken

For three years, righthander Renken has been a mainstay in Cal State Fullerton's weekend rotation. Early struggles this season got him bumped out of his usual Friday starter role by sophomore Noe Ramirez, but Renken settled into the Saturday starter's job and performed well. He was 10-2, 3.96 in 86 innings heading into regionals. No one would call Renken's delivery a work of art. His motion is funky, with an elaborate backswing in which he wraps the ball well behind his back leg. Renken then jumps at the hitter, appearing to decelerate his arm and push the ball toward the plate. While not overpowering, Renken gets good movement on his pitchers and has good secondary stuff, making him effective when his command is right. His fastball sits at 88-89 mph and can touch 91 with decent sink. His slider is a nice pitch with late break, but his best offering is his changeup, which drops suddenly and is hard for the hitter to recognize. He'll throw it to any hitter in any count. Renken has a tall and lean pitcher's frame and profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter.