The Detroit Tigers drafted Barret Loux in the 24th
round in 2007, but the Houston native elected instead to attend Texas A&M. He has posted a 20-7 record and a 3.55 earned run average for the Aggies
in his three seasons there. After undergoing surgery to have bone spurs removed from his
elbow last year, Loux has been outstanding for them. This past spring, he went 11-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 126
strikeouts in 96 innings pitched.
Loux also won the BFC Outstanding Pitcher Award for the 2009 Cape Cod League,
pacing the league in both innings pitched and strikeouts.
"We've scouted Barret since high school and have seen him grow as a pitcher and
as a person at Texas A&M," D-backs scouting director Tom Allison told MLB.com.
"We believe Barret has all of the physical and mental ingredients to be a
starting pitcher in the major leagues and look forward to him joining the
D-backs soon."
Scouts like the
life of Loux’s fastball, which averages 91-94 miles per hour and has touched
96. Scouts also feel that Loux has a solid curveball and terrific sinking
changeup, while his inconsistent slider will likely be dropped as a fourth pitch
when he turns pro. Loux has excellent command, a body type that has drawn
comparisons to former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, and an easy
delivery.
Although he has moved up recently in some draft projections, Loux was not slated
to go any higher than 14th in any of Scout.com's mock drafts and ranked 45th
among draft expert John Anderson's Top 50 Draft Prospects.
Anderson did rank Loux as one of
15 draft prospects who
could move the quickest through the minor leagues, however, and the D-backs
have an urgent need for pitching.
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