Micah Owings

Owings has been through the draft twice before. Though he hit 69 homers in high school, fourth all-time in national prep history, the Rockies made him a second-round pick as a righthander in 2002. He opted instead to attend Georgia Tech, where he continued to star as a two-way player for two seasons. Draft-eligible as a sophomore last season, he slipped to the Cubs in the 19th round because of signability concerns. Owings was the Conference USA player of the year this spring after transferring to Tulane, where he has been the club's leader in both homers (16) and pitching strikeouts (117 in 107 innings). Clubs continue to prefer him as a pitcher. His aggressive approach plays better on the mound than at the plate, where he's prone to strikeouts and causes scouts to question how he'd fare against better pitching. He goes right after hitters on the mound with an 89-91 mph fastball that tops out at 95 and a changeup that can be a plus pitch at times. His ability to throw strikes (his 117-17 strikeout-walk ratio is the fourth-best in NCAA Division I) is another asset. Owings throws a below-average slider and may have to scrap it for a cutter. He doesn't have a dominant out pitch and projects more as a set-up man with a bulldog attitude.