The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 17th round draft pick Austin Sodders. The 20-year-old left-handed pitcher played for Riverside CC(CA) in 2015, where he made 11 starts and had a 2.03 ERA in 79.2 innings. He showed excellent control with 11 walks, while adding 58 strikeouts and holding batters to a .256 average. Sodders comes from a strong baseball family, with both his dad and older brother playing pro ball. He’s 6’3″, 180 pounds and fits the Pirates’ mold of tall, projectable pitchers, though most of the others are right-handed. He will pitch in the Gulf Coast League.
You can view his player page here. The draft tracker has been updated with his signing. The Pirates have now signed all of their picks in the top 18 rounds except 5th rounder Brandon Waddell, who is currently playing in the College World Series finals.
UPDATED 6/29 7:25 PM: Sodders apparently had a change of heart almost immediately after signing. He was announced signed on Monday June 22, but by that night he had second thoughts and was gone the next day. His transaction on the Pirates’ site has been taken down and he was switched back to unsigned on their draft tracker. His MiLB page has also disappeared. It appears that(for now) he won’t be signing.
