Jarrod Parker

Parker pitched for Team USA's junior national squad that won a silver medal in the World Junior Championship in Cuba last September. He has blown away scouts and hitters all spring, warming up for his initial start at 93-94 mph and hitting 97 with his first official pitch of the season. He touched 98 in that game and has continued to do so since, often working at 95-96. Just 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Parker generates his exceptional velocity with an unbelievably quick arm. One scouting director says he has the best arm action of any high school pitcher in the draft, and he has drawn comparisons to a righthanded version of Scott Kazmir and to Tim Lincecum. Parker doesn't have Lincecum's untouchable curveball, but he does have a power curve with good depth and has shown a mid-80s slider. He hasn't needed it much against inferior high school competition, but Parker also has flashed an average to plus changeup. He didn't allow a run until his sixth start or an earned run until his seventh. A Georgia Tech recruit, he should go in the first half of the first round, perhaps to the Braves at No. 14.