May 29, 2012 at 7:57 PM
Matt Barnes' string of success
Matt Barnes has had quite a run of success since we last spoke before he opened the 2012 season with the Low-A Greenville Drive on April 8. The 19th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Barnes is currently 4-1 with a 0.71 ERA for the season, with 70 strikeouts and just 6 walks in 50.2 innings. Opposing batters are hitting .161 against him.
He lasted just five games in Low-A before proving to outclass South Atlantic League competition. One of those outings was on April 24, when Barnes faced off against Delmarva and opposing pitcher Dylan Bundy, the top pitching prospect in the Orioles' organization. Neither pitcher allowed a run, with Bundy striking out 6 in a perfect four innings, and Barnes giving up 3 hits and 2 walks and striking out 9 in 5 innings. One scout called the matchup of these two top pitching prospects “the best-pitched A-Ball game" he’d ever seen.