6/5/12

5th Round - #170 - RHP - Brandon Welch - Palm Beach State College (CC)

MLB.com draft team said: Mid-90s fastball, good slider. Because of size, thought that Brandon will be a reliever at the next level but could stick as a starter. Converted outfielder and still improving.

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 185 lbs

From www.mlb.com
"Welch is one of the more intriguing prospects in the Draft. His fastball sits in the mid 90s, and he also has a hard slider. He has excellent command of both pitches and rarely walks a batter. However, Welch is not the biggest guy in the world, leading some scouts to think he will be a reliever at the next level. Either way, Welch's aggressive nature and pure stuff are what will get him drafted". 
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Palm Beach State College head coach Kyle Forbes knows a big-time prospect when he sees one, and sophomore Brandon Welch, from Palm Beach Gardens, is just that.

"He's a strike-thrower," said Forbes. "He doesn't walk anybody."

"I'm just trying to go right after the hitters all the time, being aggressive, being a bulldog on the mound, basically," said Welch.

That mindset, along with his skill set, has major league scouts drooling.

"His first start of the year, we had a handful of scouts at the game and his velocity was in the mid-90's and, you know, just showed excellent athletic ability on the mound and excellent arm action, and ever since then, every Major League team has sent in all their national cross-checkers and scouting supervisors, what not, and he hasn't disappointed them," said Forbes.

"It's awesome because I've been working all my life to get to this spot," said Welch.

Welch is now a well-known prospect, but it wasn't all that long ago he was having a hard time just getting on the mound.

"I didn't really get looked at in high school. Went to Daytona, signed out of high school there and didn't really work out there," recalled Welch. "Came here, called Coach Forbes, he said more than welcome to have me."

After this season, Welch has a scholarship to FAU if he wants it, but he expects to be picked in the first three rounds of this summer's draft.
Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/sports/palm-beach-state-college-ball-player-brandon-welch-one-of-the-highest-rated-prospects-in-the-country#ixzz1wwhaQXxp

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