In a tightly contested race, Scott Diamond surged to win the Twenty-Sixth spot in this year's poll with 95 of 316 (30%) votes. B. J. Hermsen was a close second with 87 votes, while Pat Dean was a distant third with 29 votes.
Brett Jacobson collected only six votes and will be dropped from the next round of voting. Added to the next round will be two pitchers, Bruce Pugh and Daniel Osterbrock.
Osterbrock returns after collecting only a few votes in the seventh round. In addition to throwing a no-hitter at Beloit, he was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for two consecutive weeks before his promotion to Ft. Myers. Osterbrock had a 7-8 record for the Miracle with the best ERA in the Florida State League (2.73), while his 1.13 WHIP was fourth best in the league. Pugh has been mentioned by many of you and is an excellent prospect who battled injuries this year which certainly had an effect on his numbers. Pugh was second to Osterbrock in innings pitched for the Miracle (102.2), finishing with a 7-10 record, 4.03 ERA, 106 strikeouts and 48 walks. Pugh closed out his season making two starts in AA where he allowed twelve earned runs in 7.0 innings.
Please continue to comment on who you voted for and why as well as who you would like to see in future rounds. Voting for this round will remain open through 3pm, Tuesday, January 11th.