Paul Richan

Richan supplanted Nick Sprengel as San Diego's top starter and most-desired draft prospect this spring, launched in part by a dominant outing against Michigan at the Tony Gwynn Classic. Richan is a polished righthander with a four-pitch mix, headlined by a plus slider. At his best, Richan's fastball sits 91-92 mph and touches 94, and he can mix in an average changeup as well. He uses his fastball and changeup to get ahead, and then finishes batters with his slider. Richan tired as the season went on and sat more 88-91 toward the end, cooling some of the early interest. His fastball command also slipped at the end of the season and resulted in a lot of contact, although he still threw strikes. A poor finish made his season numbers look pedestrian, but Richan showed evaluators enough early in the year that they still consider him a talent worthy of a pick in the top five rounds.