5th-round righty Hofmann signs deal with Bucs
Adam Berry
@adamdberryPITTSBURGH -- After locking up first-round Draft pick Nick Gonzales on Wednesday, the Pirates officially signed fifth-round right-hander Logan Hofmann on Saturday afternoon.
Hofmann, 20, was selected 138th overall in this year’s MLB Draft. He received a signing bonus of $125,000, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reported, below his pick’s assigned slot value of $402,000.
Hofmann joins Gonzales as the second of Pittsburgh’s six Draft picks to join the organization. The Pirates expect to sign all their selections, and it seems likely that their savings from this pick will be put toward the bonus of second-rounder Jared Jones, a California high school right-hander.
The Cardinals selected Hofmann in the 35th round of last year’s Draft, but he did not sign. Hofmann earned second-team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball this spring after striking out 38 batters while not allowing an earned run in 28 innings over four starts at Northwestern State University.
“We are excited to add Logan to the Pirates organization,” general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “Logan has performed well at every level of amateur baseball and has a strong combination of stuff, control, feel for pitching and competitiveness. We look forward to seeing Logan in a Pirates uniform.”
Hofmann, listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, throws a fastball that sits around 90-91 mph but has run up to 94 mph. While he didn’t crack MLB Pipeline’s list of the Top 200 Draft prospects, the Pirates believe Hofmann comes with an intriguing arsenal of pitches, most notably a high-spin fastball and a curveball that plays off that pitch.
The native of Saskatchewan, Canada, thrived against tough competition in the Cape Cod League last summer, going 3-1 with a save, a 3.54 ERA and 27 strikeouts for the Falmouth Commodores. Hofmann also pitched in the league’s All-Star Game.
Before that, Hofmann spent two years pitching for Colby Community College in Kansas. He also played hockey and ran track at Muenster School in Saskatchewan. The Pirates made him the highest player drafted out of Saskatchewan, narrowly edging out James Avery, who was taken 152nd overall in the 2005 Draft.