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. He'll be the
regular SS at Altoona in 2009. If he stays healthy, it'll be interesting to see whether the back problems significantly hindered his 2008 performance.
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