It's hard not to like a guy who's 19-years-old, has great velocity on all his pitches and already possesses a fastball in the high-90 mph range.
And he's just in AA ball.
Matthew Cain has all the markings of a budding phenom.
The San Francisco Giants spent a first round pick in 2002 on him, intending to infuse some youth into a pitching staff that has recently depended on free agent acquisitions, rather than home grown talent.
Still the Giants have proceeded carefully with their future fireball. Cain started the ’04 season at Hi-A San Jose in the California League. His placement suggests that the Frisco farm is looking to nurture Cain's self-confidence.
The caution may be a bit unnecessary: He was impressive, going 7-1 with a 1.86 ERA. He led the league with 87 strikeouts while giving up only 17 walks.
That performance earned him a mid-June promotion to Double-A Norwich. He struck out 4 batters in 7 innings and did not yield an earned run while winning his Eastern League debut.
If he can keep his fastball moving in the high 90s, and dominate in the AA, he's in striking range of AAA Fresno, or perhaps the Golden Gate to his back for a few games this fall.
The Giants are confident that Cain will get to Pac Bell Park someday to provide a powerful 1-2 punch with perennial Cy Young candidate Jason Schmidt. He makes the FAB50 as the 19th best player in minor league baseball.
