Jeremy Guthrie

Ranked behind Denham and Stanford teammate Gosling last year, Guthrie slipped to the Pirates in the third round. Questions about his signability as a draft-eligible sophomore caused him to slide, and he returned for his junior year to anchor the Cardinal staff. He handed Mark Prior his only loss last year but suffered his worst outing of the season in the College World Series, leading to speculation that he was worn down. Guthrie, who transferred from Brigham Young and spent two years on a Mormon mission in Spain, is a polished, near major league-ready pitcher. He has been compared to Stanford alumnus Mike Mussina, but Guthrie's ceiling isn't quite as high. He works with a 90-95 mph fastball and has command of four pitches. He generates good boring action on his two-seamer, but his fastball tends to be on a flat plane. His slider has a late, quick break and is an occasional strikeout pitch--he led the Pac-10 with 109 strikeouts in mid-May--and his curveball and changeup can be effective. Represented by Scott Boras, Guthrie is expected to go in the first half of the first round to a team looking for immediate pitching help.