Consider Mark Prior and Brad Penny opposite sides of the college baseball coin. Prior, 23, came out of USC one of the most heralded college pitchers of all time, which accounted for his being the second pick of the 2001 draft. He spent all of seven weeks in the minors last year before coming to the Cubs and staying.
His pitching opponent in Game 2 today, Penny, 25, came out of Broken Arrow, Okla., without college and spent four years in the minor leagues. He was Arizona's fifth-round pick in 1996 and was dealt before ever being tested at the major league level.
Talent is the ultimate determining factor if or how fast a player makes it to the big leagues but, "you do move college guys quicker than you do high school guys," Marlin pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal said.
"They're more mature physically and they have thrown 100 or so innings in a year. Prior threw a lot of innings in college. In high school you get three or four good hitters in a lineup, maybe. Maybe. College, six or seven. You get to the minors and the big leagues, eight. In other words, all of them."
