With their tenth round pick in the 2018 MLB amateur draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected third baseman Mike Gretler from Oregon State. He was the 39th round pick of the Pirates last year.
Gretler turned 22 years old in January. He stands 6’2″, 180 pounds and he’s a right-handed batter. The Pirates liked him enough to use a late round pick on him last year, but he decided early on to go back to school. He had to sign a waiver to allow the Pirates to draft him again, which is standard for every draft pick who doesn’t sign, though they aren’t required to do so. He was also drafted in the 39th round out of high school by the Boston Red Sox.
He’s a senior, so that means the Pirates will save money on his pick, which comes with a $140,800 slot bonus. Seniors usually sign for $5,000 to $10,000 and agree to deals ahead of time so teams know that it’s safe to pick them, without the player holding slot money hostage. Gretler is the eighth straight college pick today and the second senior picked. In fact, all eight picks today were college players.
As for the on field stuff, Gretler has a .314/.389/.498 slash line in 58 games. His team is still playing right now, but he leads them with 20 doubles and he’s also hit seven homers. Those stats are a slight improvement over his junior year, which was his first season where he was an everyday starter.
