Prospects in Review - Part 2 of 3 (Pitchers)

Continuing the Prospects in Review, below is a list of the pitchers that were considered the top pitchers in the Dbacks farm system before the season started by Baseball America and Keith Law. The first number in parenthesis is the Baseball America ranking, the second number is the Keith Law ranking.

Jarrod Parker (#1, #1) - age 21, AA, DNP (rehab from Tommy John surgery)
- Parker spent all year recovering from Tommy John surgery that he had done back in October of last year. All indications are that he is fully recovered and is headed towards the Florida Instructional League that begins this week with a possibility of playing in the Arizona Fall League sometime next week. If Parker struggles, I expect him to start 2011 in AA, but if he pitches well, he would like start in AAA.

Daniel Schlereth (#5, NR) - age 24, traded to Tigers
- Schlereth was traded to the Tigers in the three team trade between the Dbacks, Yankees and Tigers last offseason. Schlereth has always dominated in the minor leagues, but struggled with his short time in the majors with the Dbacks and has posted average numbers with the Tigers out of the bullpen in 2010.

Mike Belfiore (#7, #5) - age 21, low A; 126 1/3 innings pitched, 3.99 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 7.48 K/9, 2.99 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9
- Belfiore was a compensatory round pick by the Dbacks in 2009. He was used out of the bullpen in college, but there was a belief amongst scouts that he could develop into a starting pitcher, and that is the direction the Dbacks have decided to go with him. He had a successful 2010 in low A, even though his ERA seems to indicate otherwise. Belfiore's high ERA compared to his solid FIP is due to a high .348 BABIP, which should drop next year. Mike Belfiore should begin 2011 at high A, but it will be interesting how quickly he moves up based on the depth of starting pitchers the Dbacks have at the low A and high A level.

Enrique Burgos (NR, #10) - age 19, short season A; 68 innings pitched, 4.50 ERA, 4.63 FIP, 7.1 K/9, 7.1BB/9, 0.1 HR/9
- Burgos is the son of a former major leaguer with the same name that got a handful of opportunities out of the bullpen over two years with the Giants. Like his father, Burgos has been able to strike out hitters, but also walks a lot of them. He is still young, and Law ranked him amongst the top 10 in the Dbacks system not so much based on his performance to date, but based on his delivery, his stuff, his size (6'4", 200 lbs), and the weakness of the Dbacks system. Burgos should spend all of 2011 at low A, but unless he is able to improve his control, I don't see him back in amongst the top 10 prospects in the system.