Samuel Strickland

Strickland has been a four-year starter for Samford, and ranked as the No. 393 player in the class for the 2020 draft, but went unselected with just five rounds for teams to work with. This spring he had his worst season, posting a 5.09 ERA over 16 starts and 81.1 innings, while striking out 70 batters (7.7 K/9) and walking 15 (1.7 BB/9). Those strikeout and walk rates have always been Strickland’s calling card and in 2020 his 30-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the second-best mark of all Division I arms, behind only East Tennessee State’s Landon Knack. Strickland has a four-pitch mix with a fastball that sits around 88-92 mph and has been up to 95 this spring, along with a slider, changeup and slow curveball that are all fringy pitches. He’s a low-ceiling, back-of-the-rotation arm at best with impressive command.