Aaron Ashby

Ashby, the nephew of ex-big league pitcher and fellow Crowder (Mo.) alumnus Andy Ashby, has posted some of the most absurd statistics in baseball this year. Ashby arrived at Crowder as an 83-86 mph lefty with a decent breaking ball without the strength to always repeat his delivery. He walked eight and allowed six runs in 0.2 innings in his collegiate debut, but by the end of the season he threw a complete game to beat Seminole State (Okla.) JC to get Crowder to the NJCAA World Series. This year, Ashby's stuff has gotten better and better. The Tennessee signee was 88-91 with a plus curveball early in the season, but as the weather warmed up, he consistently sat 90-94 mph with his above-average fastball. It's his plus curveball that hitters can't touch. He can throw it back-to-back-to-back, baffling hitters even when they are looking for it. At one point, Ashby allowed one hit in a 19-inning stretch, as he recorded strikeouts for 45 of those 57 outs. Ashby's control does waver--he's walking 5.2 per nine innings--but he also generates loads of swings and misses. He leads all Division I junior college pitchers with 156 strikeouts (and 19 strikeouts per nine innings) to go with an 11-2, 2.29 record. Ashby has gotten stronger, but he still has a skinny frame that could fill out further. He works a lot of deep counts because of his control, which explains why he has worked into the eighth inning only once all season as of mid-May. His best pitching is likely still ahead of him, but his present breaking ball and plenty of fastball should be enough to get him drafted in the third or fourth round.