FanShot

Paul Smyth, Kansas RHP, taken in 35th round by Oakland

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Hello Athletic fans. Oakland drafted Kansas closer Paul Smyth in the 35th round this week. I've been covering Jayhawk baseball for the last three years at Rock Chalk Talk. I linked a short prospect profile of Paul above. Smyth pitched at KU for four years. He was mostly good. He has a lot of movement on his fastball when it is right. His velocity is in the high 80's to low 90's. He has a useful slider. He was frustrating in that he would go through rough patches and give up runs in bunches for 3-5 games in a row, and then be the model of pitching perfection for two or three weeks straight afterwards. Paul has good skills for a 35th round pick, a competitive mentality, and he still has more room to grow than one might expect from a 4 year NCAA starter with 129 games under his belt. He had an off senior year which may have been due to a non-chronic arm injury. I hope your coaching staff works with him and he makes it up the ladder.