Colton Laws

Laws was closing the season with a flourish, with 14 strikeouts in his final start in the Conference USA tournament. He's a redshirt sophomore who attended East Carolina in fall 2014 but transferred after a coaching change. He's athletic enough to have been a star basketball player in high school, scoring more than 1,200 points. Statistically, he dominated in 2017, ranking 16th nationally in ERA (1.87) and in the top 25 with 1.21 walks per nine innings. He's similar to Mariners farmhand Max Povse as a rangy 6-foot-8 starter who pounds the strike zone, getting ground balls and swings and misses with an 88-92 mph fastball that can touch higher. His slider and changeup have made progress in 2017, and while neither grades as above-average presently, he keeps both pitches down.