More Excerpts from 2011 Baseball Prospect Book

A couple of obscure ones for you....

 Sorry about the bad cut-and-paste job on Shirley, but check out the improvement in his numbers at Xavier between '09 and '10.

Tommy Shirley, LHP, Houston Astros
Bats: L     Throws: L     HT: 6-5   WT: 220   DOB: November 11, 2025

Year     Team    League  G GS   IP    H    R   ER HR   BB   SO  W  L  SV  ERA
2009  Xavier      NCAA  17  6  44.0  57   40   37  8   21   46  1  4   0  7.57
2010  Xavier      NCAA  15 15  96.0 100   48   43 10   25   98  4  3   0  4.03
             Tri City     A-         5  5  17.0   9    1    0  0   10   28  0  0   0  0.00
1 Minor League Season    5  5  17.0   9    1    0  0   10   28  0  0   0  0.00

 ‘Don't call me' Shirley was drafted in the ninth round out of Xavier last June. He's somewhat obscure, but there are things to like here. He's big and throws a powerful 88-93 MPH sinker, resulting in a 3.00 GO/AO last year in his brief New York-Penn League trial. The strong ground ball/strikeout combination from the fastball is intriguing, and I like the way his performance improved dramatically last year. On the other hand, his control still needs work, his slider and changeup are inconsistent, and he has a delivery that turns scouts off. He's raw compared to most 22-year-old college pitchers, but lefties with power sinkers like his draw my attention. Grade C.

Steve Singleton, INF, Minnesota Twins
Bats: S    Throws: R     HT: 6-0     WT: 185     DOB: September 12, 1985 

Singleton was an 11^th round pick in 2006 from the University of San Diego. He's not a hot prospect by any means; his tools are average at best, but I've had my eye on him since he was in college as a potential sleeper. I don't have much objective data to back this up, but he strikes me as one of those scrappy middle infielder types who can come out of nowhere, have a surprisingly good season at age 26 or 27, then hang around forever as a utility infielder. He has some pop to the gaps and doesn't strike out much, two markers such players often have. Grade C.