In The System: In Kellington, Pirates are getting 'best baseball player I've seen in Vermont'

Phoenix -- Looking at the Pirates’ 2021 draft haul, it’s the players taken at the top of the class that are the most noteworthy. Catcher Henry Davis was at the top of the Pirates’ board and was taken first overall. Left-hander Anthony Solometo, outfielder Lonnie White Jr. and righty, possibly two-way player Bubba Chandler were all ranked in Baseball America’s top 32 prospects heading into the draft, but the trio, all high schoolers, were available in the second and third rounds. 

It’s a group of prep players that could play major dividends for the organization for years to come.

But talking about those selections after the second day, Cherington always referred to the class as the four high school players they selected.

“I think the first four players we took today out of the high school group -- Solometo, White, Chandler, Owen Kellington -- those are guys that we had targeted that we really liked,” Cherington said. “Didn’t know obviously how the board would fall, but really excited to get all of them. And we had them all rated pretty highly on our board.”

The fourth is Kellington, a right-handed pitcher from U-32 high school in Montpelier, Vt. that the team took in the fourth round. While he wasn’t as highly ranked as the three prep players taken before him -- Baseball America had him at No. 385 in their final pre-draft rankings -- he very well could be the best prospect his state has ever produced.

“The Pirates are getting the best baseball player I’ve seen in Vermont in my life,” Geoff Green, Kellington’s high school coach, told me over the phone. “I’ve talked to a few other people, and the thing that they’ve said to me is they haven’t really seen someone like that in Vermont, ever.”

Best will be up for debate. What is for certain is that Kellington was drafted earlier than any other Vermont pitcher, going in the first pick of the fourth round.

Since the start of the live ball era in 1920, only eight pitchers born in Vermont ever reached the majors. Of that group, Ernie Johnson leads the way in career WAR, compiling 3.9 wins above replacement pitching through the 50s.

A large part of it has to do with the limited opportunities to play ball in the northeast. In warm weather states like California, Texas and Florida, baseball is year round, whether its games, showcases, workouts or just clear weather. That’s not the case up north.

“If we’re on our field by the end of April, we’re lucky, really,” Green said.

Factor in the pandemic taking away basically all of his 2020 games, and Kellington is a little more raw than other high school prospects who are expected to sign out of this draft class.

But he’s projectable. His fastball sits in the low 90s, but he could add more velocity as he fills his 6’3” frame. His curveball occasionally flirts with 3000 RPMs, per Green. Mix in a developing changeup and he could be a starter someday.

“It’s all about some of the things we’ve had success here, where over time, in [which we see] the traits of a high school pitcher,” amateur scouting director Joe DelliCarri said. “The ability to repeat. The ability to do it easy. The ability it with some arm speed. The ability to do it with a delivery with some athleticism. The strike throwing and the strikeouts, in combination of what our scouts say is always nice, as he’s further along, potentially, in executing all those things I mentioned.”

If he does reach that ceiling, it will be because of his work ethic and willingness to learn.

“He spent a lot of time at an indoor clinic, analyzing spin rates, working with pitching coaches,” Green said. “Just kept getting better, really. Getting drafted and playing pro ball is where he ultimately wanted to be.”

The results he got from it were nothing short of incredible. In 49 innings, Kellington struck out 133 hitters -- meaning 91% of his outs came via strikeout -- and recorded a 0.22 ERA. 

A lot of that was a product of the competition he faced. Northeast baseball simply cannot compare to the south. So how do you evaluate off the chart results like that?

“He definitely stood out from the crowd,” Cherington said. “Given that, the performance itself and whatever the numbers say is probably less important than what we see in him as an athlete.”

And what they see is someone who could help contribute alongside those earlier picks.

“We’re excited for him,” Green said. “I hope he enjoys the next step.”

• It was a dominant week for Curve pitchers Trey McGough and Cam Vieaux as they helped Altoona get its first series win since June 13 last week against Binghamton.

McGough got the weekend started Thursday tossing seven innings and needing only 77 pitches to get through his outing. McGough was sitting in the low-90s with his fastball and commanded the zone with both his slider and curveball. He recorded four strikeouts, four walks, one run and no walks, but the Curve failed to get him the victory.

Vieaux tossed nine strikeouts in six innings of work against Binghamton Sunday allowing only one run and walking no one in Altoona's 5-1 victory.

• Greensboro 2B Nick Gonzales seems to have broken out of his 2-for-28 slump by unleashing against Rome in the last three games of the series going 7-for-12 and raising his average to .248 on the season. He went 4-for-5 with this triple on Sunday.

The speed and ability to hit are there and now that it seems as though he's broken through his slump, it could mean even better things for a Greensboro team that is 40-26 on the season.

• The two catchers in Bradenton in Eli Wilson and Endy Rodriguez are both experiencing 14-game on base streaks entering into Tuesday's game for the Marauders. Wilson, the 16th round pick in 2019, was converted to catcher while at the University of Minnesota and it's paying off largely for him even playing with Rodriguez as Wilson is hitting .340 for Bradenton this season.

Rodriguez on the other hand is hitting .269 but is tied for 6th in Low A Southeast with 23 extra-base hits this season. 

• Indianapolis outfielder Bligh Madris is hitting .300 in the month of July and launched this opposite field grand slam Sunday to put Omaha away for good Sunday.

The starting pitcher Sunday for the Indians was none other than Mitch Keller. Keller tossed three innings and gave up five runs, three of them earned while walking three and striking out six. 

• We're moving and expanding our rankings section to a separate article. Keep an eye on that.

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YOUR TURN: We'd love to hear from you, too, especially if you make it out to see any of these prospects and affiliates play. Feel free to file your own original scouting reports and other observations in comments.