Rockies select RHP Riley Pint with fourth overall pick of MLB Draft

The Rockies have selected right-handed pitcher Riley Pint with their first round (fourth overall) pick in this year’s MLB draft. Pint comes from St. Thomas Aquinas (High School), Kansas, he’s six-foot-four, 210-pound power thrower committed to Louisiana State University.

Pint is the top-rate right-handed pitcher in the 2016 draft class who made waves this year in his swift rise to a consensus top pick after his fastball hit 102 mph on a radar gun in February. He is ranked fourth on Baseball America’s Top 100 Draft Prospects for 2016, and is the most hyped pitching prospect to come out of Kansas since Mike Pelfrey. Pint has a huge ceiling but also a lot of risk being a high-velocity high school arm. He boasts a sharp throwing motion with a quick delivery, his electric fastball consistently hovers between 93 and 97 MPH, his off-speed pitch is a 12-6 power curveball and he can throw a slider as well.

According to MLB.com his scouting report reads:

Fastball: 70
Curveball: 60
Slider: 50
Changeup: 60
Control: 45
Overall: 60

No high school right-hander has gone first overall, but Pint almost did. In his senior year of high school he had a 7-1 record in 49 innings with a 0.57 ERA and 87 strikeouts. MLB.com compares him to Justin Verlander.