LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky standout right-handed pitcher Scott Green has been named the sixth best prospect in the Cape Cod Collegiate Summer Baseball League, as announced by Baseball America.
Green, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound junior dominated Cape hitters while teaming with fellow UK teammate Collin Cowgill to lead the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to 31 wins and its second consecutive league championship. Green, a native of Louisville, Ky., appeared in nine games for the Red Sox, starting eight. In 40 1/3 innings, Green totaled an impressive 1.56 ERA and a 3-1 record. The fireballer struck out 35 and walked only nine, allowing just 31 hits and only seven earned runs. In his one appearance out of the bullpen, Green notched a save.
Green came to UK?s campus as a highly-touted high school pitcher, turning down MLB Draft overtures out of Male High School. In his first season with the Wildcats, Green served a myriad of roles, appearing in 18 games, registering seven starts. Green sat out the 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship season after undergoing Tommy Johns surgery and returned to the Wildcat staff in a limited role in 2007, appearing in just nine games and totaling 17 2/3 innings. Despite just pitching in 17 innings last year, Green was drafted in the 15th-round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox, whose scouts watched Green dominate the Cape Cod League throughout the summer.
?Green has a classic pitcher’s body at 6-foot-8, 245 pounds, and his delivery makes him tough to hit,? Baseball America Executive Editor Jim Callis said. ?He throws from a lower three-quarters slot and a crossfire angle, hiding the ball from hitters and adding cutting action to his fastball. He spent the summer pitching at 88-91 mph but should work in the mid-90s as he regains all of his strength. His slider is a solid complementary pitch. An American League scouting director predicted Green would make more money next June as a first-round pick.?
Cowgill, a Lexington, Ky., native and former Kentucky Mr. Baseball, joined Green as a top prospect in the Cape, earning league All-Star honors while batting .290 with four doubles, two home runs, 20 RBI, and a league-leading four triples. Cowgill, who roamed centerfield for the Y-D Red Sox, swiped 10 bags and totaled a .420 slugging percentage, while reaching base at a .388 clip. Cowgill, who redshirted the 2007 season after undergoing hamate surgery, was a vital member of the UK SEC Championship team in 2006, batting .291 with 16 home runs and 61 RBI while hitting second in an order that included SEC Player of the Year Ryan Strieby and fifth-round 2006 MLB Draft selection John Shelby.
Since UK coach John Cohen arrived on the UK campus for the 2005 season, the Wildcat baseball program has experienced tremendous growth. In his first season in 2005, the Wildcats posted just its first winning season since 2000, setting the stages for the historic 2006 campaign. During the 2006 season, UK burst onto the national college baseball scene, claiming the SEC title, climbing as high as No. 4 in the national polls, and going from the last place finish in 2005 to the league crown, a first in the leagues 70-plus year history. The 2007 season was another historic one, as the Wildcats ran off a school-record 19-0 start to the season, also setting the record for the longest winning streak in school annals. UK won a total of 34 games in 2007 after winning a school best 44 games in 2006, marking UK?s first back-to-back 30-win seasons since the 1993-94 seasons.
