The Pirates had until July 12 to sign their draft picks, but they were able to lock up their final three Thursday on the eve of the first team summer camp work out.
On Thursday, the Pirates signed supplemental first-round pick Carmen Mlodzinski Thursday, second-round pick Jared Jones and third-rounder Nick Garcia. All three are right-handed pitchers.
According to Jim Callis, Mlodzinski signed for $2.05 million, $262,000 less than his slot value as the 31st overall pick. Jones received $2.2 million, or $510,500 over his slot at 44th overall. Garcia received $1.2 million, a $419,600 more than his slot.
All told, the Pirates spent $11,067,400 on this draft class, all but $87,100 of their allotted amount.
Baseball America ranked the Pirates' draft class as one of five they were "excited about."
Mlodzinski, 21, went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his junior season with South Carolina. He was an All-Star in the Cape Cod league last summer.
He relies on a high velocity sinker and a slider that is evolving from a cutter. He also mixes in a curveball and changeup. The slider has potential to be a plus spin pitch, sitting in the 2,400-2,500 rpm range with room to improve.
“He has a variety of pitches that can move in different directions,” Pirates amateur scouting director Joe DelliCarri said during a Zoom call after Mlodzinski was drafted. “That’s first and foremost. He’s worked on a little bit of cutter as well as a slider, curveball and makes his fastball move to both sides of the plate.
“It’s simple for us: Competitor, strong and he can really make the ball move.”
Jones, 18, already has a mid-90s fastball and two breaking pitches with above average spin. He is considered raw, but has a high upside.
“We are fortunate to add Jared to a growing group of young pitching prospects with the Pirates,” Ben Cherington said in the press release. “Jared is one of the best athletes out of this year’s high school pitching class. He has elite arm speed and excellent raw stuff. We are equally impressed with his maturity and passion for the game. We look forward to working with Jared in a Pirates uniform.”
Garcia, 21, went 4-1 with an ERA of 2.00 in 2020 for Chapman University, a division III school. A converted infielder, 2020 was his first year as a starting pitcher.
“Nick hasn’t been pitching for long but already does a lot of things we’d look for in a starting pitcher,” Cherington said. “He’s big, strong, moves really well, shows very good fastball qualities and a strong breaking ball. We believe Nick is just scratching the surface and we are excited to work with him.”
Additionally, the Pirates signed Joe Jimenez, Garcia's catcher at Chapman University, as an undrafted free agent. He batted .302 (48-for-159) with five doubles, two home runs and 21 RBIs in 49 games in 2019.
First-rounder Nick Gonzales signed for $5,432,400 on June 24, and fifth-round righty Logan Hofmann for $125,000 on June 27. Fourth-rounder Jack Hartman finalized his deal Monday for $60,000 Monday.
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