Griffin Canning

An unsigned Rockies 38th-round pick in 2014, Canning jumped straight into UCLA's rotation as a freshman with an 11-1 strikeout-walk ratio in 64 innings and hasn't looked back much since then. While the Bruins lack an explosive offense that would give him gaudy win totals, he had improved his consistency of stuff to become one of the nation's top starters as a junior. He's grown into his listed 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame and was among the national leaders in strikeouts with a four-pitch mix, with scouts at times seeing all four pitches as plus. Others consider his repertoire average to above-average, but scouts see him as a future starter with a clean arm and delivery. Canning has weapons and knows how to use them, pitching off his 90-94 mph four-seam fastball that features a high spin rate and peaks at 95. He throws plenty of strikes with it, showing average fastball command. That helps him consistently get ahead of hitters, who he can put away with either a slider, curveball or changeup. His change was a go-to secondary pitch as a sophomore, though he's thrown more breaking balls this spring, with the curveball usually ranking ahead of the slider according to many scouts. Like most UCLA aces under John Savage, Canning has shown durability under a robust workload, including 134-pitch shutout of rival Southern California in early May. Teams that see him as a future No. 3 starter, the high-end projection for him, will jump on him in the first round.