Rockies select Riley Pint with 4th overall pick

With the fourth overall pick in the draft, the Rockies have selected right-hander Riley Pint from St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Overland Park, Kan. Prior to the draft, the right-hander was believed to be a dark horse contender to go first overall to the Phillies. Despite that possibility, all three of the major mock drafts were a couple picks lower on him. ESPN and Baseball America were in lock-step on Pint, correctly projecting he would go fourth overall to the Rockies. MLB.com had him projected as the eighth overall pick, to the Padres.

Pint is the third high schooler in the first four picks this season, and has the potential to be a front-end starter for a Rockies team that has historically tried to acquire pitching through the draft. The team selected Jonathan Gray with the third overall pick a few years back, and will hope to build a rotation around their two high draft picks in the future.

Probably the most astounding fact about the 18-year old Pint is the fact that he can hit 102 mph with his fastball. While it normally sits between 93-97 mph – a pretty wide range – that’s a tool many scouts would drool over. The senior is a Louisiana State commit, but will likely forego that commitment and head directly to professional ball.

Ranked by MLB.com and BA heading into the draft, Pint was ranked second overall among all prospects. A.J. Puk ranked ahead of him on Baseball America while Jason Groome took the number one spot on MLB.com. Despite this high ranking, Pint's fall by a couple of spots in the draft is likely a result of teams wanting to take more polished players, such as Puk and Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis.