James Kaprielian

Kaprielian shined for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team last summer, pitching through a family tragedy as his mother died at age 58 from breast cancer in June. His mother encouraged him to keep his commitment before she passed away, and Kaprielian had a strong summer, including dominating Taiwan in a July 4 start that included 12 strikeouts. Kaprielian knows how to finish hitters off when he's ahead in the count, with a plus curveball as his best pitch. He can land it, vary the shape of it and bury it as a chase pitch, and his feel for the curve is his strongest attribute. He has dabbled with a slider as well but has focused on the fastball, curveball and solid-average changeup for most of the spring. Kaprielian ranked No. 73 on the BA500 out of high school in 2012, spurning the Mariners, who took a 40th-round flier. His fastball velocity was among the reasons Kaprielian didn't sign out of high school, as he topped out at 92, and his fastball velocity remains a question this spring. While he sat 93-95 in a relief role during UCLA's 2013 national championship run, Kaprielian generally pitches with a fairly flat, straight 90-91 mph four-seam fastball. He doesn't throw a two-seamer. In several April and May starts, his velocity improved, bumping 95 and holding 92-93 deeper into games. That could push the polished, 6-foot-4, 200-pounder into the top half of the first round.