With the fourth pick in the draft, the Rangers have selected UCSB starting pitcher Dillon Tate. He was a consensus top ten pick in the three major mock drafts, but there was a fair amount of variation in where each site had him ranked. In Keith Law's final projection, he correctly had Tate going fourth overall, while Jim Callis had him eighth to the White Sox, and Baseball America tenth to the Phillies. Tate is the first pitcher selected this year, behind three shortstops.
Tate joins Jake Thompson, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Luke Jackson and Luis Ortiz in a deep Rangers' farm system, and is expected to be developed as a starter in the early part of his pro career.
Tate was projected much higher earlier in the mock process, and even as high as first overall at one point, but his numbers faded at the end of the season and caused his stock to fall a bit. However this was Tate's first season as a starter, and likely contributed to his stuff cooling off in his last few games. Overall, he posted 2.26 ERA with 111 strikeouts and 28 walks in 103.1 innings pitched. He threw two complete games, and had an fantastic WHIP of .875.
He has a fastball that reaches the upper 90's, and has four pitches in total; two of which are among the best in college. His slider features sharp breaking action, and his changeup has the ability to become another plus pitch for Tate. His delivery has noticeable effort in it, and could be cleaned up, but has a considerable amount of deception.