Carlos Fisher

Fisher was a typical "Quad-A" reliever in 2010 - too good for Triple-A, not good enough for the majors. He shuttled back-and-forth between Louisville and Cincinnati as a middle reliever last season and looks to do that again in 2011.

Fisher once was a starting pitching prospect, but was converted to relief work after he plateaued at Double-A. He'll presumably be in the same role in 2010, often serving as the last pitcher on the roster, meaning that his roster spot will be in continual jeopardy.

Fisher made the transition from starting to relief work last year with modest success. While he does a decent job of keeping the ball down and missing his share of bats, he's also struggled some with control, walking 29 in 58 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Until that control improves, he projects at best as a guy who will shuttle back-and-forth between Louisville and Cincinnati.

Fisher blew threw High-A Sarasota before stalling a bit at Double-A Chattanooga. That's not altogether surprising - not every pitching prospect can hit the ground running at each level like organization-mate Johnny Cueto has the last two years. Fisher needs to regain his command of the strike zone (he walked twice as many batters per nine innings at Double-A) and miss a few more bats before he's ready to move up.

Low-A Dayton had a pretty strong starting rotation, including Johnny Cueto (promoted to high-A Sarasota in midseason), Zach Ward (traded to the Twins for Kyle Lohse), Travis Wood and Fisher. While the usual caveats apply about not getting too excited about low-A results, it's hard not to like what Fisher has done so far. Because he was a college draftee, he was a little old for the level, so the next two levels will be a better test of his acumen.