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Michael Lorenzen (RHP, Cal State Fullerton): Reds 2nd Pick

With their second pick, the Reds select right-handed pitcher Lorenzen out of Cal State Fullerton.

By Kerry Moss

With their second pick, the Reds select right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen out of Cal State Fullerton. Lorenzen is a two-way player in college, as a pitcher and an outfielder. He has a strong arm, but pitched out of the bullpen in college.

Keith Law, ESPN: Lorenzen is a better prospect on the mound but has long expressed a preference to play the outfield rather than pitch, which has led to limited looks for scouts to see him throw.

Baseball America: Some clubs prefer Lorenzen off the mound, where he attacks hitters with a 93-97 mph fastball with minimal effort. His hard curveball projects as an above-average pitch, but it's fringy now, and he needs to command it more consistently. A team that likes Lorenzen as a position player has a nice fallback of putting him on the mound if his bat doesn't pan out.

Lorenzen is on twitter. Follow him @Lorenzen55

The report from MLB.com:

Lorenzen has been on the radar for a while now, having been drafted in the seventh round of the 2010 Draft out of high school by the Tampa Bay Rays. He opted to head to Fullerton instead, and he still has the raw tools and the plus makeup people liked three years ago. The two-time USA Baseball Collegiate Team member hasn't consistently turned the tools into performance, though. With a Ryan Braun like body type, Lorenzen can flat out play center field, covering gap-to-gap extremely well with a plus arm. He does have some gap power at the plate and he runs well, though he's better underway. The question is if he'll hit enough at the next level. He does throw mid-to-upper 90s fastballs as Fullerton's closer and that could be an "if all else fails" backup plan. Lorenzen didn't have a great summer numbers-wise, hitting .171 with no extra-base hits and two stolen bases, for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team during exhibitions in Cuba and in Honkbal-Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands. He also pitched in three games, picking up a win, a loss and a save. He didn't allow a hit, but he did allow four walks while striking out one.

JJ Cooper likes this pick too...

However, Lorenzen wants to remain a position player:

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