Brewers show faith in southpaw Linehan

With their ninth-round pick (No. 272 overall) in the First-Year Player Draft on Friday, the Brewers selected left-handed pitcher Tyler Linehan out of Fresno State.

The Mariners drafted Linehan out of high school in 2010 in the 14th round, but he opted to go to Fresno State instead of signing.

Following a successful sophomore campaign in which he tallied a 3.58 ERA over 83 innings, Linehan had a disappointing season this year. In moving between the rotation and the bullpen, the southpaw struggled to find any consistency. He finished his junior season with a 6.97 ERA in just 41 1/3 innings, while opposing batters hit .370 off him.

Brewers amateur scouting director Bruce Seid looked past the numbers, though.

"If you notice, at the end of the year he pitched some really good games for Fresno State," Seid said. "He's a guy that throws in the low to mid-90s, he's got secondary pitches. When his game's on, he's very difficult and he gets a lot of swings and misses."

Despite the struggles, Linehan still has good potential because of two good pitches in his fastball and curveball. His fastball sits in the low 90s and has good cutting action to it, while his curveball has late, sharp downward action.

If Linehan can become more consistent and add a third pitch, he has a good future ahead of him.