Foley, Skoglund meet up for pitchers' duel

For the second time already this season, Central Michigan right-hander Jordan Foley finds himself in the middle of a notable pitching matchup when he faces Central Florida left-hander Eric Skoglund on Friday night in Orlando.

Foley made his Opening Day start against UNLV right-hander Erick Fedde, who is expected to be a first-round pick. Skoglund isn't that well regarded, but he entered the season with some buzz as a top-10 rounds pick and has pitched well in his first three starts. Listed at 6-foot-6, Skoglund attacks hitters with a low-90s fastball and a solid slider. He has limited opposing hitters to a .195 batting average, though he hasn't missed many bats, striking out just 11 batters in 21 2/3 innings.

After proving he could compete against top competition last summer in the Cape Cod League, Foley entered the season as a potential top-three rounds pick. He acquitted himself well in front of the many scouts at his Opening Day start and enters Friday with a 2.79 ERA and a 17-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 19 1/3innings.

Foley throws his fastball sits in the low- to mid-90s, mixing it with a sharp slider and changeup. He is working on a splitter, but he doesn't command it well yet and hasn't thrown it often this spring. It looked like a wipeout pitch last fall, and scouts who saw him came away impressed with his four-pitch power arsenal.

"After seeing him in the fall, you think to yourself, 'This guy doesn't get out of the top two rounds,'" one scout said. "How he does this spring will determine where he goes, but his ceiling is the top five rounds."