Reds solidify deals with pair of righty draftees
Mark Sheldon
@m_sheldonCINCINNATI -- The Reds announced on Saturday the signings of two more picks from the 2020 MLB Draft -- both right-handed pitchers -- in third-rounder Bryce Bonnin and fifth-round selection Joe Boyle.
Bonnin, taken as a junior out of Texas Tech, was ranked MLB Pipeline's No. 121 Draft prospect heading into the selection days. He has a plus fastball that tops out at 97 mph and an above-average slider. During his sophomore season in 2019, he was 7-1 with a 4.08 ERA. However, command of his pitches was an issue. In 64 innings during the season, he walked 45 batters. That came after Bonnin endured shoulder issues with his first school, Arkansas, as a freshman.
Bonnin signed for $700,000 -- a hair under the assigned slot bonus value of $721,900 -- according to MLB.com's Jim Callis.
“Arkansas didn’t think I would recover from [it]. Luckily, Tech saw that I probably could," Bonnin said on June 11. "I was able to land there, rehab the fall of my sophomore year and by my sophomore spring, I was 100 percent."
Boyle, a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder originally from Goshen, Ky., near Louisville, has reached 102 mph with his fastball. He was 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and two saves in six games for the Irish during his shortened 2020 junior season, allowing three hits and striking out 17 batters.
Boyle, who scouts graded with an 80 fastball, was ranked No. 165 overall by MLB Pipeline.
“He’s a guy who throws 100 mph with a plus breaking ball and shows you all the stuff,” Reds director of amateur scouting Brad Meador said after the Draft. “We want to turn him over to our pitching development and see what they come up with. No one is going to wonder why he is there.”
The newest signees come on the heels of Cincinnati signing its first-round pick, outfielder Austin Hendrick, on Friday and fourth-round outfielder Mac Wainwright on Wednesday. Still unsigned are right-hander Christian Roa, the team's second-round selection from Texas A&M, and catcher Jackson Miller, the Competitive Balance Round B pick from J.W. Mitchell (Fla.) High School.