Chris Lincoln

A 13th-round pick of the Blue Jays out of high school, Lincoln struggled in UC Santa Barbara’s rotation as a sophomore before moving to the bullpen and flourishing as the Gauchos' closer this spring. His 13 saves tied for 10th in the nation through the end of the regular season. An athletic, physical righthander, Lincoln has a fast arm and saw his velocity tick up throughout the season. He pitches at 93-94 mph, can ramp up to 96-97 mph and touched 98 mph for the first time in April. Lincoln’s delivery is max-effort and batters hit his fastball better than his velocity would indicate (he had a .242 opponent average as of late May), but evaluators believe tweaks can be made to his delivery, which could help him hide the ball more and get his fastball to play better. Lincoln’s slider is wildly inconsistent, ranging from below-average to above-average, and the pitch will need to be sharpened. Lincoln is far from a finished product and still has room for growth. His upside and present velocity have him in top-five rounds consideration.