[ayaghmour2]

3rd Round, 48th Overall: LHP Bill Chapman
School: Edina
1941: 4-1, 59.2 IP, 1.51 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 13 BB, 78 K
Career: 13-2, 182.2 IP, 1.63 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 43 BB, 224 K

I wasn't a big fan of the regional options available, so I decided to take a risk on a young pitcher. Southpaw Bill Chapman is a native of Edina, Missouri, and stands 6'1'' while weighing just 165 pounds. Chapman has pitched for the Eagles since he was a freshman, but his 10 starts as a sophomore are his career high, with 14 of his 38 appearances coming out of the pen. That does cause a little concern, as his innings totals are low, but when he is on the mound, Chapman is very effective. The 18-year-old has had an ERA below 1.50 and WHIP below 1 in each of the last two seasons, and his career K/9 and BB/9 of 11 and 2.1 are strong. He has a six pitch mix, the best an average fastball that sits in the upper 80s and low 90s, and he has the overall stuff to start in the big leagues. He has a curve, slider, change, forkball, and circle change, with the circle change his projected strikeout pitch. If he can work in the curve and slider effectively he can cut through batters efficiently, but his pitches have a lot of work to go before being reliable offerings. Bill has a good approach on the mound, cool and collected with runners on, and he approaches each batter slowly and methodically. His stuff won't overwhelm, but his control is reliable. Tom isn't the biggest fan, but OSA thinks he can pitch into a back end role, and I think he has a foundation we can build on to mold him into a useful FABL arm.