Three down. One to go.
On Saturday night, sources told DK Pittsburgh Sports that the Pirates and second-round pick Anthony Solometo have a deal in place. The left-hander will have his physical Monday and is expected to sign Tuesday morning.
Terms of the deal are not yet known. Solometo was taken with the first pick in the second round, and that 37th pick carries a slot value of $1,999,300.
Earlier Saturday, DK Pittsburgh Sports reported that first overall pick catcher Henry Davis and third-round right-hander Bubba Chandler have deals in place as well. Davis will be introduced formally by the Pirates Sunday morning.
Solometo was one of four players that ranked in Baseball America’s top 32 draft prospects that the Pirates selected with their first four picks in this year's draft. The one remaining player from that group who does not have a deal in place is Lonnie White Jr. The outfielder was taken in the Competitive Balance B round at pick No. 64.
Solometo was ranked No. 28 by Baseball America and No. 17 by MLB Pipeline.
The lefty uses his funky mechanics and advanced feel for his breaking pitches to keep hitters off balance. His fastball sits in the low-90s. He also mixes in a raw changeup that has potential to be a good pitch:
Here's video of @Pirates second-round pick Anthony Solometo.
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 12, 2021
He's drawn some comps to Madison Bumgarner because of the arm action.
Full scouting report 🔽https://t.co/EBTvegLo9s pic.twitter.com/X9OEnmo2hf
"He's a strike thrower. He always has been a strike thrower," amateur scouting director Joe DelliCarri said after the draft concluded Tuesday. "I think his mechanics work in his favor. He's very deceptive. The ball comes out at the area of the spot where hitters don't have a chance a lot of [the] percentage of the time. I think his exuberance and history of learning the game, in combination of his compete levels, are really the combination that drew us to him the most. It's fun watching [him]."
Solometo went 5-0 with a 0.21 ERA, 64 strikeouts and five walks over 32 2/3 innings for Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in New Jersey this season.
Perfect Game tabbed him as a pre-season All-American and entered the draft as their third-best left-handed pitcher available in this draft class.
So far, the Pirates have formally announced they have signed the six players they took from the fifth and 10th rounds. They include, in order of when they were selected: Infielder Jackson Glenn, shortstop Mike Jarvis, catcher Wyatt Hendrie, right-hander Sean Sullivan, outfielder Luke Brown and right-hander Justin Meis. More can be found on most of those selections here.
Update: The original version of this story reported that Solometo was set to sign Monday. The timetable got pushed back a day, and the story has been changed to reflect that change.
