Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Logan Hofmann a Pitcher to Watch

After being selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2020 MLB Draft right-handed pitcher Logan Hofmann has quickly become a Pirate pitching prospect to watch

With the 138th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates selected right-handed pitcher Logan Hofmann. When Hofmann was selected he was viewed as a reliever who could climb through the Pirate farm system quickly. Thus far, he has proven to be just that.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Hofmann out of Northwestern State University. In his final season of collegiate action Hofmann walked just 5 batters and struck out 38 in 28 innings pitched. In these 28 innings pitched he posted a 0.00 ERA. That’s correct, an ERA of 0.00. While Hofmann did allow a home run it came following an error that led to the runs that were allowed to be unearned.

In 2019 Hofmann also pitched in the Cape Cod League. In the Cape that season Hofmann posted a 3.38 ERA while walking 7 batters and not allowing a home run in 16 innings pitched. Most impressively, he struck out 22 batters in just 16 innings of work.

Hofmann has made his professional debut this season with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. With the Marauders, Hofmann has pitched 59.0 innings in 17 outings, with 9 of these 17 innings coming out of the bullpen.

Even in the games that Hofmann started it was more of an opener role than a true stater. He has averaged just 3.2 innings in the 8 starts he has made this season, and his long-term home with the Pittsburgh Pirates will be as a reliever.

Overall with Bradenton this season Hofmann has posted a 2.75 ERA and a 3.77 FIP. He has walked 8.4% of batters faced. While his walk rate is a tick higher than you would like to see it is not terrible, either. To counter that he owns a healthy 31.9% strikeout rate on the season. He has also allowed just 6 home runs which comes out to a home run rate of 0.92 HR/9.

Hofmann has induced ground balls at a healthy 45.1% rate this season, while limiting opposing batters to a line drive rate of just 15.8%. He has also limited opposing batters to just .178 batting average.

Hofmann is quickly becoming a top relief pitching prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates. When the Pirates are ready to compete again in either 2023 or 2024, odds are, Hofmann will be a key piece of their bullpen. He is a pitching prospect that fans should be watching and monitoring in the next few seasons.