ARTICLE COURTESY OF THE PROSPECT COLLEGIATE BASEBALL LLC

ELKVILLE, IL - Flying under the radar, you won't find his name on any leader boards, he hasn't taken home a Pitcher of Day let alone Pitcher of the Week honors, but if the month was to end today, the Normal CornBelters reliever Aaron Barkley has been the best pitcher in the Prospect League for the month of June.

Aaron Barkley, a 21-year-old,  6'1", 225-pound, right-handed pitcher from El Cajon, CA, a 2016 graduate from West Hills High School in Santee, California and a sophomore at Mississippi Valley State University is currently ranked by Pointstreak, the official statistician for the Prospect League and the Prospect League Prospect(us), as the No. 1 pitcher in the league.

Barkley, signed by Normal as a catcher has appeared in eight games and posted a 2-0 record with a minuscule 0.42 ERA, allowing only one earned run in 21.2 innings pitched. His dominance on the mound is evident by his 19/1 strikeout to walk ratio, giving up only 10 hits on the season, all of them singles with the exception of one extra-base hit, a double while holding opposing batters to a .132 batting average. 

The CornBelters reliever is coming off a 2018-19 season with Mississippi Valley, where he was named to the All-SWAC Second Team as a relief pitcher, where he led the conference qualifiers with a 1.89 ERA while striking out 51 batters and holding opponents to a .214 batting average. Barkley also led the SWAC in hits allowed (30), runs allowed (10), earned runs allowed (8), walks allowed (7) and combined for 13 innings with just two earned runs and 19 punchouts in contests against Alcorn State and Alabama A & M to conclude the season.

With Barkley's success on the mound, one has to wonder how much longer is he going to have to haul around catcher's gear?