The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 9th round pick Chad Kuhl, and 19th round pick Brett McKinney, Pirates Prospects has learned. Both will be heading to Jamestown.
Kuhl is a 6′ 3″, 215 pound right-hander. He relies mainly on a low-90s sinker, which he uses to get groundballs. He also throws a curve and a change, but his secondary pitches are fringy. Baseball America ranked him the best prospect in the 2012 Valley League and the 365th best in the draft. His ceiling is probably 5th starter or long reliever, and he may see improvement with a good infield, which he didn’t have at Delaware.
McKinney is a 6′ 1″, 224 pound right hander who was a college senior out of Ohio State. He moved to the bullpen during his senior year with Ohio State, and his numbers improved significantly. He throws his fastball around 90 MPH, but can hit 94 out of the bullpen.
UPDATE 3:28 PM: Jim Callis reports the bonus for Kuhl is $145,200, which is slot for the ninth round.
#Pirates sign 9th-rder Chad Kuhl for $145,200. Delaware RHP gets a lot of groundouts with his sinker. #mlbdraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 12, 2013
