2010 San Francisco Giants' Fifth Starter

(taken from Dan Brown, who is filling-in for Andrew Baggarly)

The fifth starter is between Madison Bumgarner, Todd Wellemeyer and Kevin Pucetas.
"So far in camp, he's the best guy I've caught," says catcher Eli Whiteside.

Pucetas throws a fastball in the low 90's complimented by a slider, curveball and changeup.

Pucetas, 25, has yet to make the majors but has made steady progress since being taken in the 17th round in 2006.

Over the course of four (4) professional seasons, the right-hander is 42W 13L with a 3.20ERA. In 500 1/3 innings he has 362 strikeouts and 117 bases on balls.

With just about two weeks left in Spring Training, I'd say he is in the lead for the fifth spot. A conversation on one of the games that was broadcasted by Dave Fleming and Doug Greenwald had the two broadcasters looking into the growth of Pucetas. How it's hard to overlook his progress while others in similar spots appear to be "treading water." (Not the announcers words, I just didn't want to be as verbose as the two play-by-play guys were so I chose to tie a neat little bow around what Fleming and Greenwald were discussing.)

(Thanks to Dan Brown for the facts on Kevin Pucetas.)

Kevin Marquez