Luke Farrell

Farrell has gone from human interest story to a prospect worthy of selection in the first 10 rounds. The son of former big league pitcher and current Red Sox manager John Farrell, he had two surgeries to remove a benign tumor from his neck in 2009 and another when it returned in the summer of 2011. Farrell wasn't at full strength as a junior last spring, when he posted a 6.10 ERA, but he has been healthy this year and ranked second in the Big 10 Conference in ERA (2.13) and strikeouts (80 in 84 innings). He spun a shutout at Wrigley Field against Michigan on April 20, closing the game with a 93 mph fastball. Farrell usually pitches at 88-92 mph with his heater. He benefited from hanging around the Red Sox when his father was the pitching coach, as he learned a cutter from Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, a curveball from Josh Beckett and a changeup from Curt Schilling. Farrell fills the strike zone and uses his 6-foot-6, 200-pound frame to get good angle and plane on his pitches.