Mariners select college arms on Day 1 of Draft
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SEATTLE – For an organization that puts a premium on “controlling the zone” and having pitchers who throw strikes, it’s not hard to see why the Mariners targeted right-hander George Kirby out of Elon University in North Carolina with their top pick in Monday’s MLB Draft.
The 21-year-old racked up 107 strikeouts and just six walks in 88 1/3 innings at Elon, leading all NCAA Division I pitchers with a stunning 17.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio and the fewest walks per nine innings at just .611.
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“It kind of punches you in the face when you look at it,” Mariners scouting director Scott Hunter said of Kirby’s numbers. “You actually have to ask if it’s real. With all our technology and analysis and different video stuff, it is. I don’t think anybody in the country even sniffed his strikeout to walk rate. Obviously it’s something we do here and we value. He fit in perfectly.”
In three seasons at Elon, the 6-foot-4, 210 pounder went 19-8 with a 3.34 ERA in 45 games, including 34 starts while featuring a mid-90s fastball and an improving mix of secondary pitches.
“I’ve always just tried to throw strikes,” Kirby said. “That’s true for a lot of pitchers, but just being able to command the zone well and expand out when I want to, I developed that a lot the past two or three years at Elon, and I had to do a lot of that in the Cape [Cod] last summer against a lot of those good hitters.”
The Mariners went heavy for power arms on the first day of the Draft, selecting left-hander Brandon Williamson out of Texas Christian University in the second round and Arkansas right-hander Isaiah Campbell with a Comp Round B pick they received in a trade from the Indians.
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It’s the second year in a row the Mariners have tabbed a college pitcher with their first-round selection, having picked Stetson’s Logan Gilbert last year. The Mariners see a lot of similarities with the lanky Gilbert, who is pitching extremely well in Class A Modesto and just moved into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list in baseball last week.
“We’re obviously excited to add one of the top 4-5 arms in the country,” Hunter said. “He fits everything we value here. Adding pitching last year with Logan Gilbert, George Kirby is going to come in and add to that depth in our organization, which we’re trying to build on.”
Kirby is the first player ever selected in the first round out of Elon, a private liberal arts university with an enrollment of about 6,700 that competes in the Colonial Athletic Association. He said he committed to Elon as a sophomore at Rye High School in New York, wanting to combine baseball with a good education.
“Last fall was the first I heard his name,” Hunter said. “Devitt Moore, our Northeast Regional supervisor, called and told me this might be a guy that’s going to be in the first round. I said, all right, look on the map. Where is Elon?”
Kirby was drafted by the Mets in the 32nd round in 2016, but opted to go to school instead. He just finished his junior season at Elon, but is ready to turn pro now without question. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the assigned slot value for the 20th pick in the first round is $3.24 million.
“I spoke to him today and he’s ready to go,” Hunter said. “I don’t anticipate anything other than working out the flight arrangements.”
Hunter said he didn’t know yet if Kirby would report initially to the Arizona Rookie League or go straight to Class A Everett, but he’ll be headed to Seattle as soon as his deal is finalized.
“I’m super excited [to get started],” said Kirby, who has never been to Seattle. “I think my pitch mix works well. I’m ready to compete against the best guys. This is something I’ve been working for for a while. I’m just really excited to get the opportunity.”
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Pitching, pitching, pitching
The Mariners added two more big hurlers with their final two picks of the first day. Williamson, the second-round selection (59th overall), is a lanky lefty who recovered from labrum surgery in both hips and went 4-5 with a 4.19 ERA, 89 strikeouts and 36 walks in 77 1/3 innings over 16 starts for TCU this year as a junior. The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder played his first two seasons at North Iowa Area Community College.
Campbell, the Comp B selection (76th overall), is an interesting prospect as a 6-4, 225-pounder who went 11-1 with a 2.27 ERA this year as a red-shirt junior at Arkansas. He’s a biochemistry major from a military family and was born in Portugal and later lived in Germany and Turkey before moving to the U.S.
“We did put a premium on pitching,” Hunter said. “The last few years we’ve solidified the middle of our organization. We have a good crop of young players in Double-A and Triple-A in regards to Shed Long, Evan White, even Cal Raleigh and guys like that who are starting to make a push.
“We did see a need for pitching and if everything fell evenly, we were going to go that direction.”
The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. The MLB.com preview show begins at 9:30 a.m. PT, with exclusive coverage beginning at 10 a.m. PT. Go to MLB.com/Draft for complete coverage, including every pick on Draft Tracker, coverage and analysis from MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, the complete order of selection and more. And follow @MLBDraft and @MLBDraftTracker on Twitter.