Clay Buchholz

No one could tell at the time, but McNeese State had two first-round-caliber pitchers on its 2004 roster. While Jacob Marceaux was going 4-6, 5.71 as a swingman, Buchholz went 3-for-18 as a little-used infielder. He transferred to Angelina (Texas) Junior College as a sophomore to get more playing time, a move that should pay off handsomely. While Buchholz hoped to become a regular shortstop, Angelina coaches saw him pitch at 88-89 mph at a tryout camp and thought he had upside on the mound if he could make mechanical adjustments. They were right. Buchholz' fastball sat at 92 mph and touched 97 this spring. When he's on, his slider grades as a 65 and his curveball as a 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Buchholz still needs to improve the consistency of his breaking pitches and his changeup, but it's hard to argue with his pure stuff. He went 11-1, 1.19 with 112 strikeouts in 76 innings as the ace of a prospect-laden pitching staff that also includes Robert Leonhardt, Aaron Odom, Matt Paradoski and Josh Tomlin. Buchholz, who was also batting .387 and led Angelina with a .613 slugging percentage, is a good athlete whose lefthanded power would make him a candidate for the first five rounds as an outfielder. The biggest concern is his makeup, stemming from an incident in high school that has some clubs avoiding him entirely. A rare juco prospect who's not under control from the 2004 draft, Buchholz will attend Texas Tech if he doesn't turn pro.