Cody Buckel

Residing close to Hollywood, Buckel relishes a good dramatic flourish. He begins his pregame warm-up by standing on the grass between the mound and second base with the ball in his hand. He races up the backside of the mound, down the front, and fires the ball plateward. A fledgling singer and actor when he isn't striking out hitters, Buckel is undersized for a righthander at 6 feet, 170 pounds. He does flash a big man's fastball at 92-94 mph. Buckel mixes in an excellent array of secondary pitches, with a curveball, changeup and cutter. His pitching idol is Tim Lincecum, and while his stuff is not as electric as the Giants ace's, he still displays the potential for four average to plus deliveries. The primary concern is durability, as he usually loses 3-4 mph on his fastball as a game progresses. Committed to Pepperdine, Buckel projects as either a back-of-the-rotation starter or set-up man in professional baseball.