By Robert Sherry

Kurt Ainsworth: The San Francisco Giants number one pick in the 1999 draft out of LSU, Ainsworth is the best pitching prospect that the organization has in the upper minors.

At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, this 22-year-old righty pitched for Double-A Shreveport in 2000. His overall record (10-9) doesn't really do him service on how he pitched. The team had many struggles in the second
half of the season, yet Ainsworth pitched well through out the course of the season (3.30 ERA, 158 IP, 138 H, 63 BB, and 130 SO in 28 G). In late summer, Ainsworth joined the Olympic team and ended up posting a perfect 2-0 record.

Coming out of college, the biggest concern with Ainsworth was his right elbow as he had undergone Tommy John Ligament Transplant Surgery. But since going under the knife, his arm has been even better than prior to the injury. He now throws his fastball in the low-90s and combines that with a slider and curve. You can project him to be an upper rotation starter, probably a No. 2.

In a perfect spot, it would be good for Ainsworth to spent all of 2001 at Triple-A, but I feel this may be unlikely. More probable, you can probably expect to see him called up during midsummer if things go will
in the PCL.