The Guardians have made their choice for the second round at No. 59 overall and it’s a bit of a surprise, selecting a top-graded high school arm in Logan Schmidt out of Ganesha High School in California.
Schmidt is a 6’4, 210 lb left-handed starting pitcher and is one of the youngest players in the entire draft class at 17 years old. Schmidt was the 45th ranked prospect in the draft according to MLB Pipeline
Here’s what MLB Pipeline had to say about him:
“If teams like high school left-handed pitchers,
this might be the Draft for them. Within the first round, they could have their choice of three from different areas of the country: Gio Rojas in South Florida, Carson Bolemon in South Carolina and Schmidt out west in California. Schmidt may have started the summer showcase circuit behind the other southpaws, but after performances at events like the Area Code Games and MLB’s All-American Game, he’s vaulted himself towards the top of the prep lefty list.
An uptick in velocity this summer, particularly at the Area Code Games, certainly helped Schmidt’s stock rise. He was typically pitching at 93-94 mph with his fastball, but he was in the 94-97 mph range, and more of that consistently would certainly help him on Draft boards. There isn’t a ton of deception with the pitch right now, so it can get hit at times. He backs up the heater with a 78-81 mph slider that features three-quarters shape to it, a breaker that can disappear, miss a lot of bats and flashes plus. There’s feel for a changeup, too, which he sells well with arm speed out front.
Schmidt has shown an ability to repeat his delivery well and fill up the strike zone with all three of his offerings, providing a very nice left-handed starting pitching kit. The LSU recruit reclassified to be done with high school early, so he’ll still be 17 at Draft time, something that will look good in a lot of team models.”
MLB Pipeline grades Schmidt with a 55 fastball, 55 slider, 50 changeup, 55 control and an overall grade of 50.
Here are highlights of Schmidt.
What are your thoughts on the pick? How would you grade it?
