3.96 Milwaukee Brewers - Tyler Thornburg, RHP, Charleston Southern

The Brewers spent the 96th overall pick on Tyler Thornburg.

Follow the jump for his pre-draft report.

Tyler Thornburg   Position: RHP   School: Charleston Southern   State: SC   Year: Jr.   Height: 5’11’’   Weight: 175

Bats: R   Throws: R   Birth Date: 9/29/88   Seiler Rating: 2C3   Last Drafted: Never

Tyler Thornburg is a hard-throwing collegiate right-handed starting pitcher from Charleston Southern University. Thornburg originally came to Charleston Southern from Riverwood High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He wasn’t highly-regarded coming out of high school, even in an area that’s a hotbed of talent, so he went undrafted and headed for Charleston Southern in the fall of 2007 as a two-way player. Once there, he played both in the outfield and pitched out of the starting rotation, having good success on the mound, but being prone to the big inning. He moved to the bullpen for his sophomore year, having better success there and continuing that success as a reliever on the Cape last summer. He returned to school this spring hoping to do well enough to get drafted in the top ten rounds, but he’s exceeded expectations in the starting rotation, while also playing right field during the first half of the year. After such a great year, scouts project him to be a possible number three starter or setup man, with most thinking the bullpen is the likely destination. His stuff is good enough for either spot. His fastball is a solid-average to above-average pitch that sits 91-94, touching 95, and he locates it quite well. It moves a little bit, but it can be hittable at times, so he needs to locate it down in the zone as a pro. His curveball is a potential plus pitch, and he gets most of his strikeouts with it. He doesn’t throw a changeup well, but he’ll need to learn one or perhaps a cutter as a pro starter. He should go in the area of the third to fifth round range, where he’ll be signable for the neighborhood of slot money.