BRIAN FRIDAY

12/16/85; '07 3rd; Rice Univ.
R/R; 5-11, 180

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2005 NCAA
.256
.340
.326
129
4
1
1
11
31
7
0
2006 NCAA
.353
.437
.558
269
22
3
9
30
51
17
8
2007 NCAA
.341
.429
.496
252
26
2
3
29
37
14
6
2007 A-
.295
.371
.410
156
10
1
2
10
33
6
4
2008 A+
.287
.365
.387
341
20
4
2
34
56
16
11
2008 R
.182
.280
.273
22
0
1
0
2
3
0
0

Friday had a strong sophomore year, earning a first team All-America nod from Baseball America.  He fell off a little in his junior year, except for cutting down on his strikeouts.  He's expected to hit for average but not power, which was in keeping with the Pirates' preferences under Dave Littlefield.  He runs well and could profile as a leadoff hitter.  Defensively, he has a good arm, but MLB.com describes him as inconsistent otherwise.  Overall, he appears very similar to Brian Bixler.  Like the team's first two picks in the 2007 draft, he looked like an overdraft.  Friday signed right after the All-Star break and took over as the regular SS at State College in late July.  He had a solid debut, helped by a 12-for-26 stretch in his last seven games.  His plate discipline wasn't good, but the sample size is small and stats in the NY-P League don't always indicate how a player will do down the road.  The conversion to wood bats and pro pitching patterns often requires a lot of adjustment.  Friday had a platoon split of 150 OPS points, but that also could just be a sample size product.  He was hampered in his debut by an ankle injury.

The Pirates were impressed with Friday and jumped him to Lynchburg to open 2008.  He had a solid season, although it was interrupted by back problems.  He adapted quickly to the higher level and seemed to be breaking out with a .319 average in May, but the back problems flared up at that point and he missed most of June and July.  He posted only a .692 OPS in August, which may have been due in large part to his back.  Overall, his plate discipline was solid and he didn't show much power.  He wasn't an efficient base stealer.  If he's healthy, he'll probably be the regular SS at Altoona in 2009.

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