NICHOLAS NEUMANN, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
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Born: April 26, 1991 Height: 6’3″ Weight: 205 Bats: Right Throws: Right Drafted: 28th Round, 851st Overall, 2014 How Acquired: Draft College: Central Connecticut State Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
Neumann was drafted as a 23-year-old college senior in the 28th round. He red-shirted during his junior season due to Tommy John surgery, so he was one of the older players in the draft class. MLB.com listed him as a junior when he was drafted, but he played four seasons at Central Connecticut State (plus sat out a year), so that appears to be wrong. In his last two seasons Neumann had a low walk total each year and just one homer allowed over 142.1 innings. As a sophomore in 2011, he had a 2.61 ERA over 72.1 innings. Neumann signed shortly after the draft.
2014 Pitching out of the Jamestown bullpen, apart from one start, Neumann showed good control but had more hits allowed than innings pitched. He had a huge platoon split, allowing only a .540 OPS to right-handed hitters but 1.006 to left-handed hitters. 2015 Neumann moved up to West Virginia and served as the closer. That’s actually not a sign that a team considers a pitcher a prospect. For one thing, it meant Neumann got fewer innings than the 60-80 that the Pirates typically try to get a reliever at that level. Neumann put up solid numbers, including a low walk rate. He was mainly a flyball pitcher. He had a reverse platoon split, holding left-handed hitters to a .523 OPS, while right-handed hitters posted a .751 OPS against him. Considering his split the previous year, that’s a good illustration of how small sample size platoon splits may not mean much. 2016 The Pirates sent Neumann to Bradenton, where he had a season very similar to the previous one. He got hit a little harder, with opponents batting .277 and slugging .380 against him, both above the league averages of .250 and .356. This time, Neumann had trouble with left-handed batters, who hit 323/382/403 against him. He went on the disabled list in early July and didn’t return until the end of August. Neumann could see time at Bradenton again or Altoona, or both, in 2017. |
CONTRACT INFORMATION
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2017: Minor league contract |
PLAYER INFORMATION
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Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 2014 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2020 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2017 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
TRANSACTIONS
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June 7, 2014: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 28th round, 851st overall pick; signed on June 12. |