Great article on Jordon Walden in today's Star Telegram

Suprised DBat GM hasn't posted it yet

BLAZING HIS TRAIL
Mansfield pitcher Jordan Walden made a big-time pitch for elite prospect status

By RICK HERRIN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

MANSFIELD -- He knew the fastball was electric, but Tommy Harmon wanted to double-check what his eyes were telling him.

Harmon, a longtime assistant baseball coach at Texas, figured the pitch was in the mid-90s.

Harmon moved over to a scout and got confirmation from the radar guns: Jordan Walden, a right-handed pitcher at Mansfield, had thrown a 99 mph fastball.

"Wow," said Harmon, who signed Walden in the fall. "I have never seen that before. I knew it was hard and more than 94. They thought the gun was broken."

That radar reading during a summer game at TCU has changed Walden's life drastically. Baseball America named him the top high school prospect for 2006. He is expected to be a high first-round selection in the Major League Baseball amateur draft in June, and has developed into the next big thing from a state rich in producing power pitchers.

"You have to put him right up there at the top with Kerry Wood and [Josh] Beckett," Harmon said.

Walden, who said he plans to hit 100 mph this season, might possess an even more lethal fastball than some of his famous predecessors. He unloads the devastating pitch with a relatively easy arm action from a 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame.

Mansfield catcher Chad Comer was forced to switch to a new glove this season after Walden's fastball helped wear out his old one.

"It's just -- wham," Comer said. "It's like he doesn't even try. Most of the time the hitters swing after it hits my glove."

Walden, a senior who moved to Mansfield from Fort Worth before his freshman year, is hardly bothered by his star status. He carries a quiet nature that allows him to blend in with teammates rather than stand out like a hot-shot prospect.

"I'm still the same person," said Walden, who went 8-4 last season with a 1.20 ERA. "It hasn't been too tough."

For most of the summer Walden was on center stage. He showcased his fastball by throwing two hitless innings as a starter in the Aflac All-America game. He is expected to become the highest drafted high school pitcher from the Metroplex since Grand Prairie's Wood was taken No. 4 overall by the Chicago Cubs in 1995.

"The potential is that he can go as far as he wants," Mansfield coach Gary Vaughan said. "He has the mental game and the physical game, and he has the velocity everyone likes."

Walden is the centerpiece of Mansfield's hope of reaching its first state tournament. He led the Tigers to the Class 5A Region I finals last season.

"I give him credit," Vaughan said. "He hasn't seemed to let this stuff bother him."

What jumps out at scouts is Walden's effortless motion and strong character. The ball flies out of his hand, and his fastball rides in on right-handed hitters. On the day he hit 99 mph, Walden was startled to learn of his feat.

"It was a big surprise when I hit it because I wasn't really trying to do it," Walden said. "I knew if I hit it [99], I would get a ton of attention."

Walden finished last season with 127 strikeouts in 81 innings. He also doubles as Mansfield's top hitter. He batted .488 with five home runs and 44 RBI.

By the end of a long run in the playoffs and plenty of summer action, Walden suffered from a sore elbow. Vaughan has been careful with his prized prospect, whose every move is being studied by scouts. Walden is slowly building back his arm strength and was throwing 93 to 95 mph last week.

"He has phenomenal arm strength," Baseball America associate editor Alan Matthews said. "And it doesn't hurt to be from Texas. There's always been a lure to the flame-throwing right-handed pitcher from Texas."