Baseball America's scouting report: Hayden Simpson

Simpson has made a name for himself in the Division II ranks, going 22-1, 2.73 over his first two seasons at Southern Arkansas. Last year he set a new school record and ranked second nationally among all Division II players with 132 strikeouts. He entered 2010 as Baseball America's preseason choice for D-II pitcher of the year and the No. 8 prospect in D-II, and so far he has lived up to that billing. In his Feb. 5 season debut, Simpson struck out 13 over 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits in a 13-1 win against Missouri Southern State. He followed that up with seven strong innings in a win against perennial D-II powerhouse Tampa last weekend. An American League area scout who was on hand for Simpson's season debut broke down his outing.

"The weather was terrible—it was really cold, and it had rained the day before. It's the first game of the year, and it's cold. The kid is 6-foot, 175 pounds—a slight build. He comes out in the first inning, and the first pitch is 94. Then 94, 94, 93, 96. There were about 20 scouts there and a handful of crosscheckers—he's no secret. He's throwing two breaking balls: a slider that he throws about 80 mph, and a curveball he throws about 76 mph. They're very similar pitches; the curveball has a little more depth, the slider has a little more run, and they're both tight and sharp.

"He faced 16 batters and struck out 13. The guy was good last year—an all-American. He's good. The only knock on him is his size, whether or not he can be a starter and hold up for a whole season with his size. If not then you've got a reliever who can come out and pump it, and shut you down with the breaking ball. But the second, third, fourth inning, he sat more 90-93. The fastball is pretty straight, he was kind of leaving it up a little bit—he's going to have to get it down. And whenever he goes to the stretch he loses a little bit of his velocity. But he has the ability to pump it back up when he needs to. I know it's Division II, so it is what it is talent wise, but he was just mowing them down. He's going to go pretty good (in the draft)."

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