The Rockies have agreed to sign right-hander Riley Pint, whom they selected with the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network and FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The prep right-hander out of Kansas City will receive a $4.8MM signing bonus, which is $458,700 less than the No. 4 slot’s value of $5,258,700 (as reported earlier this year by MLB.com’s Jim Callis).
Pint, 18, rated as the No. 2 prospect in this year’s draft in the estimation of Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com, and Baseball America rated him as the No. 2 prospect as well. ESPN’s Keith Law was a bit less optimistic, rating him 12th. Callis and Mayo note that he’s the highest prep arm to come out of Kansas state since 1983 due in large part to a fastball that sits 93-97 mph and reached as high as 102 mph this spring. BA calls Pint a “much better version of the same template” as former No. 2 overall pick Tyler Kolek, who went second to the Marlins in 2014 due largely to his own triple-digit heater. BA writes that Pint regularly hits 100 mph with sink and can flash a pair of above-average breaking pitches. Law notes that Pint will sometimes show a sharp curveball but doesn’t do so consistently, though the same is true of an above-average changeup, so there’s clearly the potential for a wide array of above-average offerings in the power-armed teenager’s future. Each report, however, mentions some concerns surrounding Pint’s delivery as well as his ability to consistently throw strikes, creating a fair amount of risk around him as well (as one would expect with any high school pitcher).
The Rockies went exceptionally heavy on college players in the 2016 draft, as Pint is one of just nine high school players the team selected out of 41 picks. Some of the savings they received on Pint could be applied to fourth-round pick Colton Welker, a prep third baseman out of Florida whom Callis and Mayo noted may require an over-slot deal due to a strong commitment to the University of Miami. Colorado entered the draft with a pool of $11,453,100 and will have $6,353,400 of that sum remaining upon the formalization of Pint’s agreement.
I was disappointed to see him go to colorado. Hopefully he can survive the gauntlet of young pitchers, especially those that have to pitch in coors.
Gotta love it when the Rockies get tons of complaints for not focusing on pitchers enough. Only to see the complaints going a different direction when they do focus on pitching. I guess some people just prefer complaining. Just some free advice to either take or ignore, lighten up and life will go a whole lot better for you.
I’m not a rockies’ fan. I’m a fan of baseball in general. Thus, I am less than thrilled to see a promising young pitching talent go there.
I think he’s probably the best kind of pitcher they can take. But as someone who just wants to see him do really well, Coors is obviously not the best landing spot.
Sorry that comment wasn’t directed exclusively at you. I just get tired of people ragging on my team no matter what they do. It is possible to pitch well at Coors. The biggest problem is your (and everyone else’s) thinking. If you go into a situation only focusing on the negatives instead of the challenge ahead, then you are already setting yourself up for inevitable defeat. What I would really like to hear is someone say, “I’d love to go to Colorado because I have a chance to be their best pitcher ever.” The power of positivity works in all facets of life, especially sports.
I was nervous about the pick of Pint, but now that I see Keith Law thinks less of him than other prospect gurus, I absolutely love the pick. Keith Law hates all things Colorado, so Pint should fit in just fine.
The Rockies obviously are always going to struggle with pitching but maybe a pure velocity guy might work. Keith Law actually praised Pint but noted, as many other have, that he hasn’t had to develop his secondary pitches because he could rely on the huge fastball to overpower HS batters. Law also pointed out that because Colorado will probably never be a destination for good FA pitchers developing them – or attempting to – might be the best option. It’s a very strange organization but I don’t really know what they can do; they are always going to be subject to the very real limitations of playing at extreme altitude.