Buddy Baumann

Baumann battled his control last spring as a sophomore but straightened it out in the Cape Cod League, where he won the all-star game. He had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the fall but bounced back quickly--and strongly, winning Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the year honors by going 11-1, 3.23 with 101 strikeouts in 86 innings. Baumann is small (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) and doesn't overpower hitters, but he can pitch. He's willing to work inside with his fastball, which sits at 89-91 mph early in games and dips to 86-89 in the later innings. He gets good life on his pitches from a three-quarters delivery, and he can drop down lower to confound hitters. His curveball and changeup are solid, and he does a nice job of mixing his pitches to keep batters off balance. He'll vary the shape and speed of his curve, making him even tougher to decipher. "If he were 6-foot-1," one scout said, "he could go in the second round." He's more likely to go in the fifth or sixth.