Pirates Sign The Rest Of 2020 Draft Class, Add Non-Drafted Catcher

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced they have signed Competitive Balance A round selection Carmen Mlodzinski, second round pick Jared Jones and third round pick Nick Garcia from the 2020 First-Year Player Draft. The 21-year-old Mlodzinski (selected 31st overall), was a Baseball America second-team pre-season All-American selection as a redshirt sophomore in 2020 at the University of South Carolina. In four starts this past season with the Gamecocks, Mlodzinski went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 25.1 innings of work. The 18-year-old Jones, selected 44th overall in the second round, was rated as the No. 41 overall draft prospect by Baseball America. Jones finished his high school career at La Mirada (CA) High School with a 20-6 record, 0.89 ERA and .150 batting average against. During his senior year, Jones also posted a 0.82 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 17.0 innings of work. The 21-year-old Garcia, selected 79th overall in the third round, was rated as the No. 70 overall draft prospect by MLBPipeline.com. Garcia went 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA in five appearances (five starts) this past season for Chapman (CA) University. He also finished the 2020 campaign ranked 18th among NCAA Division III pitchers with 36 strikeouts Garcia was a 2019 American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Basball.com first-team All-American after going 9-0 with 12 saves, a 0.64 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 30 appearances. He was also a 2019 Division III Baseball National Championship All-Tournament team selection for NCAA Division III-champion Chapman University. The team also signed non-drafted free agent catcher Joe Jimenez.