Pittsburgh Pirates News: Team Signs Fourth-Round Pick Jack Hartman

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to work toward signing their 2020 draft class after reaching an agreement with fourth-round pick Jack Hartman on Monday

Earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Pirates completed their first draft with Ben Cherington as the team’s general manager. On paper, it appeared to be a strong draft for Cherington and the Pirates. While the draft was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic leading to the team making just six selections, the Pittsburgh Pirates have now signed three of their six picks.

On Monday, the team signed their fourth-round pick, right-handed pitcher Jack Hartman. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Hartman out of Appalachian State University.

At Appalachian State, Hartman posted a 4.98 ERA and he struck out 26 batters in 21.2 innings of work in 20 relief appearances during the 2019 season. Prior to the coronavirus shutting college baseball down, Hartman appeared in 10 games for the Mountaineers in 2020. In these 10 games, he posted a 3.00 ERA and struck out 22 batters in 12 innings of work.

Overall, he finished his Appalachian State career with a 4.61 ERA, 1.6% walk rate, 29.4% strikeout rate, and he allowed just two home runs in 33.2 innings of work.

Hartman possesses a fastball/slider combination. He did not start pitching full-time until 2019. Prior to that, he was a pitcher and an infielder for Tallahassee Community College and the College of Central Florida. But upon arriving at Appalachian State in 2019, Hartman transitioned full-time to pitching.

Hartman possesses the tools need to be a plus reliever at the MLB level. Even though he is new to pitching full-time, as a college reliever he could likely climb through the Pirate minor league system quickly.

In addition to Hartman, the team has signed first-round pick Nick Gonzales and fifth-round pick Logan Hofmann. Compensation pick Carmen Mlodzinski, second-round pick Jared Jones and third-round pick Nick Garcia all remain unsigned. However, the Pirates are expected to reach a deal with each of these three.