Dakota Bacus

Bacus has gone from not making the team at Moline (Ill.) High in his first two prep seasons to becoming the ace of an Indiana State that won its first-ever outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title this spring. After spending two seasons at Southeastern (Iowa) CC, he opened 2012 by working at 86-88 mph with his fastball. As the weather heated up, so did Bacus, who pitched at 90-92 mph down the stretch. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder also has transformed the rolling curveball he had at Southeastern into a sharp slider that grades as a plus pitch at times. His changeup is a solid third pitch. Bacus throws strikes but doesn't get a ton of swings and misses, so he profiles as a No. 4 starter. His stuff could play up in a relief role, and his slider could give him the ceiling of a set-up man.