OREM — Over the years, the Orem Owlz haven't been known as a team with strong pitching.
But that's changed this season as the starting rotation has carried the club in its quest for a seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
One of those starters, Mason Tobin, is doing his job just fine and is getting some national notice.
Tobin, a 16th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in June's amateur draft, was recently mentioned in Baseball Prospectus as one of 10 minor leaguers to watch.
Tobin baffled the opposition in his eight starts for the Angels' Arizona League club, garnering an almost unheard-of 0.95 ERA. The desert heat didn't seem to affect Tobin at all, despite the fact that temperatures can hover above the 100-degree mark, even during night games.
His strong start to his professional career continued when the Owlz called him up in early August, where he has a 2.08 ERA in five starts.
Tobin's journey to the Angels' system featured several stops before he was drafted this summer. He graduated from Kentridge High in the Seattle area before turning down a scholarship offer to Washington State to play ball at Western Nevada Community College, which was entering its first year of junior-college play.
Some would wonder why anyone would turn down a scholarship to a Pac-10 school, but the answer is simple. Players who attend a four-year college cannot be drafted again until after their junior year, and those who opt for the junior college route can be drafted every year.
Getting attention from major league clubs, the Atlanta Braves made him their 14th-round pick in 2005, and he was expected to sign, according to the Baseball Prospectus.
"It wasn't the right fit and I was still very young," Tobin said of why he didn't join the Braves organization.
The Braves also picked Tobin in the late rounds of the 2006 draft, but this time Tobin decided to go closer to home and pitch for Everett Community College. Judging by the way his 2007 season turned out, it was the right move.
The statistics don't lie, and that's why Tobin keeps getting so much attention. Going 9-0 and keeping his ERA at a cool 1.20 with Everett, he also has shown control in building a 4.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio during the college season.
Control is what the scouts look for — not a 100-mile-per-hour fastball — in their prospects, and Tobin is well-aware of that.
"I'm just working on the command of my fastball and consistency with my offspeed," Tobin said.
Orem manager Tom Kotchman is keeping an eye out for Tobin, especially since he has been pitching since early March.
"He's like a lot of other arms their first year," Kotchman said. "He's probably a little bit fatigued this time of year.
"The stuff he'll need to work on will be to get left-handers out a little bit better. He's got a good, quick arm that's very deceptive, and he's very hard on right-handed hitters."
Even though Orem's season is over in the next week or so depending on how far the Owlz go in the playoffs, Tobin's work isn't done yet. There is another month of instructional league with close to 40 prospects taking the extra time to improve their game. A few months off, and then it's back to Arizona for spring training in February.
He's not complaining, though.
"I love playing baseball and enjoy it here," Tobin said.