Griffin Roberts

After being used out of the bullpen during his first two seasons with Wake Forest, Roberts has made a phenomenal transition to a starting role this spring. Through his first nine starts, Roberts has pitched to 2.67 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 22 walks in 64 innings. His impressive numbers are a byproduct of a plus fastball in the low to mid-90s with natural running life and one of the best breaking balls in the country in a 70-grade slider that has exceptional movement and depth. The pitch regularly locks up both righthanded and lefthanded batters and creates swings and misses inside and outside of the strike zone. There will always be reliever risk with Roberts, as he has a lot of effort in his delivery and throws from a very low, three-quarter slot that can occasionally border on sidearm. He also has a history of control issues, although those concerns have been lessened this spring and in the Cape Cod League last summer, when he managed just 1.69 walks per nine innings.