Osiel Rodriguez

ANALYSIS
A 6-foot-3, 205-pound righty out of Cuba, Rodriguez was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 5 overall prospect and top pitcher in this year's July 2 international signing class, while MLB.com ranked him No. 9 and third among pitchers. He has elite arm speed and gets excellent extension on his pitches. The 16-year-old hurler currently sits in the low-90s with his fastball, touching 96 mph, but as he matures that pitch could be an 80-grade behemoth. His slider will flash plus, and he also has a curveball and changeup/splitter, although he may scrap the curveball in pro ball. Given the amount of torque involved in his delivery, it is a little surprising that he is labeled as a strike thrower, but many evaluators do project him to have at least average command/control. If that ends up being the case, he could someday pitch atop a big-league rotation. Rodriguez joins a farm system with perhaps more young, hard-throwing pitching prospects than any other, so he will face a lot of quality internal competition.