Kevin McGlinchy simply needed to throw the baseball a year ago to be successful. Rock back, launch the 94-mph fastball. And watch the hitters walk back to the dugout.

"I just let it go," the Durham Bulls right-hander said, the sweat flowing freely after an early-afternoon workout. "I was pretty much a thrower last year. I basically used fastballs, and nobody could really catch up with them."

McGlinchy's numbers were impressive - a 1.49 earned-run average, 12 walks and 82 walks in 78.2 innings at rookie league Danville and short-season Class A Eugene. Baseball America rated him the No. 2 prospect in the Braves organization.

This season hasn't been as easy for him. Twenty years old on Saturday, he is young for the Class A Carolina League. And it shows: He is 1-5 with a 6.82 ERA.

"The competition is better, much better," McGlinchy said. "A lot of hitters are more disciplined. I'm learning a lot this year, but it's definitely been a tough year. But the season is not over yet."

McGlinchy has walked 23 batters and struck out 53 in 67 innings. But he has given up more than a hit per inning (77) and has allowed nine homers.

"What he has found out is that he needs to learn how to pitch," Bulls manager Paul Runge said. "Right now, the biggest thing is pitch location and pitch selection. He needs to sort through how to set hitters up. He can't get by with just blowing people away any more. He needs to mix it up and keep hitters off stride."

It's something that McGlinchy is learning the tough way - like several of his teammates.

McGlinchy and fellow starters Dwayne Jacobs, Joe Nelson and Shawn Onley all jumped past Macon in the Braves' minor-league ladder. All have high ERAs - Onley the lowest at 4.68.

"I think for our young pitchers as a whole it's a growing year," Runge said. "These are temporary struggles that they are going through that will make them tougher mentally in the long run. Sometimes it's good for baseball players to experience a little bit of adversity."

So McGlinchy, at 6 feet 5 and 220 pounds, works and looks for positives to build on.

"He is one of the best pitching prospects in this league, no doubt about it.'' Runge said. "He has the size, the strength, he's got the pitches and the control to pitch in the big leagues. He just happens to be a very young pitcher right now. He's battling through some things, and he's going to be better because of it."