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
2009 AA
.265
.361
.386
407
22
3
7
51
69
7
5

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.  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 was 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 spent 2009 as the regular SS at Altoona.  He started fast, hitting .500 in his first six games, but then went out for over a month with an inner ear infection.  He slumped in June, hitting only .206, and his hitting numbers hovered around their final levels the rest of the year.  On the plus side, Friday drew a lot of walks, didn't strike out much and showed decent gap power.  Defensively he's still a little erratic; he had 25 errors despite missing over a fifth of the season.  His range and arm are more solid than outstanding.  He hasn't become a good base stealer.  Overall, aside from drawing walks he's more adequate than good in most areas.  He's very similar to Brian Bixler, except he doesn't have Bixler's massive strikeout problem.  A stronger showing in 2009 might have left him in line to compete for a starting middle infield job in the majors at some point in 2010, but at this stage he looks more like a prospective utility player.  The Pirates will have some decisions to make because Friday should move up to AAA next year, but Bixler, Luis Cruz and Argenis Diaz are all ahead of him, so something has to give.

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