Meet the Candidates: Aaron Crow

The June draft may be a little over a month and a half away, but the Rays have been on the clock since the end of the 2007 season. Another finish at the bottom of the standings means the Rays once again will be picking first overall in June, and this year it seems four players are "in the running" to be selected, though by no means are the Rays excluding everybody else. Continuing today, we'll take a look at a candidate each day, culminating Friday with my first mock draft of the spring as well as your chance to vote for who you think the pick should be. Today we profile Aaron Crow, a right-handed pitcher from Missouri, after the jump.

The Rays might have an embarrassment of pitching riches in their farm system, but everyone knows the saying in baseball: You can't have too much pitching. And even if you could, once you see a guy like Aaron Crow, it's hard to argue against adding him anyway.

Crow entered the season as either college's best or second-best pitcher, and after about 2 months of play, there's still no clear consensus on the Crow vs. Matusz debate. What is clear, though, is that Crow can not only pitch but he can dominate. His 42+ inning scoreless streak was snapped last Friday thanks to some terrible pitching weather(fun fact: Todd Helton -- yes, THAT Todd Helton -- holds the NCAA consecutive scoreless innings streak at 47.2). His most recent outing wreaked havoc on his statline, raising it nearly a run and a half, but on the season it's still impressive: 8-0, 2.05 ERA, 45 hits, 13 walks, and 71 strikeouts in 57 innings. He's been a workhorse for the Tigers, tossing three complete-game shutouts.

Crow has a nice, though maybe not perfect, pitcher's body, standing at 6'3" and weighing 195 pounds. He works off a nasty fastball-slider combo, and was rated by BaseballAmerica as being tops in each pitch. His fastball can scrape the upper nineties, but he works in the 92-95 range with good life and command. He can locate his low-80's tight slider giving him a legitimate strikeout pitch. His strikeout numbers in the past were actually pretty low, less than 7 per 9 innings, though this year it's up to over 11. Like Alvarez, Crow has had success against wood bats in his career, dominating the Cape Cod League to the tune of a 0.67 ERA.

Perhaps the biggest(only?) concern about Crow is his mechanics. Kiley McDaniel did an excellent report on his mechanics(highly recommended), so I'll just summarize the concern here. Basically, as Kiley describes, it's a wrapping of the wrist that causes more muscles to be used, and thus, increased probability of putting more stress on the arm. To date, Crow has not had any arm problems, and as noted, it's a red flag and not a fatal flaw, but worth keeping an eye on.

Lastly, what would happen if the Rays drafted him? Like David Price a year ago, the team would be understandably cautious with Crow. I don't think they'll shut him down entirely like Price, but regardless of when he signs, he would likely only make a few appearances, though his workload as a Ray would hinge on his workload with Missouri the rest of the year. If he does pitch this year, it would probably be at low-A Columbus before heading to Vero Beach to start the 2009 season. He's a pretty polished pitcher, so assuming health and relative success, Crow could force his way all the way to bigs before the 2009 season is over.