Joey O'Brien

O’Brien has a Division I commitment to Hawaii, is eligible for the MLB draft, and is also eligible for the Japanese pro baseball (NPB) draft. The son of a U.S. Marine who was stationed in Okinawa and stayed after marrying a local Japanese woman, O’Brien grew up in Japan and came to the U.S. last year in order to play baseball. His brother, Richard, was drafted in the third round of the NPB draft by Softbank last year. O’Brien plays both ways, but teams want him as a pitcher due to his premium arm strength. O’Brien stands 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and sits 93-94 mph, touching 96 with little effort. He throws strikes and has a fresh arm as someone relatively new to pitching. O’Brien is a good athlete who bats for himself and plays center field on days he doesn’t pitch, and he hit .330 with nine home runs batting in the middle of CSN’s order. His arm strength and athleticism have teams interested on the draft’s third day.