Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch

----

With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft.

I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos.

Profile 19: Hunter Virant

Profile/Stats:

Hunter Virant is a senior at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, CA, and has committed to play for the same college, UCLA, as other pitching prospects, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito. He is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. He was born on January 24, 1994. He throws left-handed. Virant is athletic and also plays as a Center Fielder. He threw a no-hitter in April over Oxnard.

Mini Scouting Report:

Virant has a fastball, a curve and a changeup. His fastball is an above average pitch with good movement. It averages 92-93 and occasionally gets to 95-96. His curve is a plus pitch with a good bite, thrown at the upper 70s. His changeup at low 80s is an average pitch. Very polished and athletic player. Good mechanics and smooth Delivery. Size might be an issue but he will bulk up.

Videos/Photos:

Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Hunter Virant pitching

http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATN22.jpg