2009 Indians 5th Round Pick: RHP Austin Adams

In the 5th round, the Cleveland Indians select RHP Austin Adams - Faulkner University
5'11" 185 lbs.

UPDATE (1:26 PM EST): Dennis Nosco
He is a college senior at Faulkner and so has no levarage in negotiations and won't be able to demand a large bonus.

Local paper article on Adams: Threw up to 98 mph in workouts for teams!

Commentary: He is obviously an arm-strength guy who has not pitched that much but, as a SS, is probably a good athlete which should help him repeat his delivery. His stuff flattens out when he throws hard (very true for a lot of guys) which explains his bad numbers this year. As a college senior in the 4th round they really wanted this guy and will get him cheap!

Baseball America rated him at the 172nd prospect in their top 200 list. He hasn't pitched full-time yet as, in NAIA, he is good enough to play both ways (SS and relief pitcher). Besides his fastball that has been clocked up to 98 mph he also throws a changeup and power curveball that sits about 80 mph. A good comp might be our 14th round pick from 2008, Carlos Moncrief.

He was an honorable mention NAIA All-American this year.

Posted in: Austin Adams