Mitchell Boggs Stats & Scouting Report

IP	316
ERA	4.13
WHIP	1.465
BB/9	4.101
SO/9	6.636

Full name Mitchell Thomas Boggs
Born 02/15/1984 in Dalton, GA
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 235 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Georgia
Debut 06/06/2008
Drafted in the 5th round (170th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005 (signed for $150,000).

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Boggs' physical nature was evident in high school, when he was a football/baseball star. He committed to play baseball only at Georgia, then had regrets and transferred to Chattanooga (which doesn't have a baseball team) to play football in the fall of his sophomore year. After playing in three games as a quarterback (he rushed three times for nine yards), he returned to Georgia as a sophomore to focus again on baseball. Boggs hasn't been consistent as a baseball player, struggling to throw consistent strikes, but took off as a closer late in 2005 for the Bulldogs. Boggs has topped out at 94 mph and sits in the 90-93 range. He's still raw due to his inexperience in baseball, leaving his secondary stuff short, and he is still learning how to compete. His stuff and size, though, should make him the first player drafted off a disappointing Georgia team.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Thrust into the major league rotation as an injury replacement, Boggs debuted with a 3-0 start that included a 51⁄3-inning gem at Fenway Park on national television. Inexperience and control problems eventually caught up with him, but the brush with the big leagues helped mark him as one of the best pitchers in the Pacific Coast League last year. He won the Pacific Coast League ERA title at 3.45 and made Baseball America's Triple-A postseason all-star team. Boggs features two different fastballs: a four-seam pitch that he can locate and cut and a two-seamer that sinks. He throws in the low 90s and augments his heaters with a put-away slider. Boggs is both consistent and durable, throwing more than 140 innings for the third consecutive season. Observers applaud his smarts and laud his bulldog approach, describing him as an assertive pitcher. Boggs was a two-sport star who tried small-college quarterbacking before transferring to Georgia, where he worked primarily as a reliever. If he can improve his changeup and his command, he has the guile to stay a starter. If not, righthanders' .189 average against him and his fastball/slider combo could return him to those bullpen roots as strong setup righty.
Boggs was a two-sport athlete who tried his hand as a quarterback at Tennessee- Chattanooga before transferring to Georgia and sticking with baseball. Primarily a set-up man with the Bulldogs, he became a starter after turning pro and has had no trouble adjusting. He was the glue of a Texas League division championship rotation in 2007. Boggs still can reach the mid-90s with his four-seam fastball, but his low-90s two-seamer with sink and bore is his ticket to quicker innings. He has ditched his curveball and developed a wipeout slider that ranks as one of the best in the system. Few Cardinals pitching prospects have been as consistent or durable. Boggs reported to the Arizona Fall League with the goals of improving his command and developing a changeup. Though he has a quality fastball/slider combination, he doesn't miss as many bats as he could because he doesn't locate his pitches with precision. One of his best assets is his competitiveness, but that sometimes leads to overthrowing. The next step in Boggs' progression is Triple-A, but he's not far away from being able to plug a hole in St. Louis' leaky rotation. It's possible that in the long term he'll return to where he came from and become a lockdown reliever.
Coming out of high school as a dual-sport star, Boggs committed to play baseball at Georgia, then had regrets and transferred to Tennessee-Chattanooga (which doesn't have a baseball team) to play football in the fall of his sophomore year. After playing in three games as a quarterback (he rushed three times for nine yards), he returned to Georgia as a sophomore to focus again on baseball. He finished his college career with a 5.62 ERA, but his raw ability attracted scouts. He began to establish himself as one of the organization's better young arms last summer. He ranked second in the Florida State League in strikeouts and took a perfect game into the ninth inning of a game in June, finishing with a one-hit shutout. His fastball runs consistently in the low 90s, though it can touch 94-95 mph. He mixes in an average slider with sharp break and a workable changeup. It's the hard, boring sink on his fastball that further adds to his reputation within the organization. He'll head to Double-A in 2007, and while he'll remain in a starting role for now he may eventually require a move to the bullpen to reach the big leagues.

Minor League Top Prospects

Boggs lacks the prospect profile of fellow Redbirds Garcia and Perez, despite having won the PCL's ERA title (3.45). He attacks hitters with two- and four-seam fastballs, usually operating in the low 90s and featuring good sink and natural cutting action. He isn't afraid to pitch inside and pounds both sides of the plate. Boggs' sharp-breaking slider is an out pitch, and he improved his command of it this season. He also throws a changeup, but it's not as effective as his other offerings. Managers raved about his pitching IQ and he continued to live up to his reputation as an outstanding competitor. A reliever in college, Boggs may yet wind up back in the bullpen if he doesn't refine his changeup so he can be more effective against lefthanders. He struggled in his first taste of the majors this summer, with big league lefties batting .321/.419/.641 against him.