MATTHEW FOUST

10/8/84; '07 6th; Univ. of Nebraska
R/R; 6-3, 225

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
HR
BB
K
BB/9
K/9
WHIP
OAVG
ERA
2005 NCAA
0-0-1
5
0
7.0
6
1
3
5
3.86
6.43
1.29
.261
2.57
2006 NCAA
0-0-1
3
1
5.2
2
0
4
3
6.36
4.77
1.06
.133
3.18
2007 NCAA
2-4-7
27
6
65.0
61
4
32
53
4.43
7.34
1.43
.260
4.02
2007 A-
3-6-0
14
13
50.1
45
0
34
42
6.08
7.51
1.57
.234
4.47
2008 A
0-2-0
2
1
4.2
6
0
8
2
15.42
3.86
3.00
.333
15.43
2008 A-
0-0-0
3
0
5.1
6
0
5
4
8.44
6.75
2.06
.273
3.38
2008 R
2-0-4
17
0
29.1
31
0
16
16
4.91
4.91
1.60
.267
3.68

Foust pitched little in his first two college seasons following shoulder surgery.  He returned for a solid season as a junior.  The Pirates' former management had a growing obsession over their last several, disastrous years using their early draft picks on low ceiling college players, especially relievers, and that included Foust.  He throws his fastball around 90 and supposedly has a good slider.  His BB and K numbers as a junior weren't very impressive; the Pirates particularly seemed to avoid pitchers who got swings and misses, resulting in chronically low K rates in the lower levels of their system.  As a two-pitch pitcher, Foust probably projects as a reliever in the long run.  He signed quickly and pitched in the rotation at State College, where he didn't get hit hard but struggled with his control.  The lack of a good third pitch probably hurt him against LH batters, who hit .278 against him.  RH batters hit only .208.  Foust posted a 2.70 ERA in July and 8.16 in August, so he may have gotten tired.

In 2008, the Pirates tried Foust briefly at Hickory but he couldn't throw strikes.  They sent him all the way down to the GCL, where he spent most of the summer.  He had a decent ERA there, but still couldn't manage to fan more than he walked.  He continued to struggle with his control during a few late season appearances at State College.  Foust was part of a 2007 draft class that, at this stage, looks like a disaster.  In the first ten rounds, the Pirates chose six pitchers:  Dan Moskos, a fourth overall pick who had a miserable 2008 season in high A; Duke Welker, who pitched poorly at Hickory; Foust; Maurice Bankston, who struggled badly at State College; Anthony Watson, the lone success in the group who pitched well at Lynchburg; and Sean Giblin, the lone high school pitcher in the top ten, who got bombed his first year and missed his entire second year with an injury.  It'd be hard to draft that badly if you tried.  Foust will probably open 2009 wherever the Pirates think he can get a few hitters out.

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