RINKU SINGH

8/8/88; NDFA '08; India
L/L; 6-2, 190

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2009 R

1-2-0

12.1

2.9

5.8

1.46

.292

5.84

Not long after signing South African shortstop Mpho Ngoepe, the Pirates signed the 20-year-old Singh and 19-year-old RHP Dinesh Kumar Patel, making them the first persons born in India to sign professional baseball contracts. The signings arose out of a Million Dollar Arm contest in India, which awarded prizes to the contestants who could throw the most pitches above 85 mph in the strike zone. Singh and Patel were both javelin throwers with no knowledge of baseball, but part of the prize was a year of training at USC and they've supposedly advanced markedly. The articles about the signing are a little contradictory about Singh's velocity, but he may reach the low 90s and the Pirates said they consider him projectible. When I saw him at Pirate City, he was throwing in the low 80s, but at this stage the Pirates are probably more concerned about mechanics and other fundamental issues.

Of the two Indians, Singh is the one who could become a prospect. Ironically, though, he had more trouble than Patel in the GCL. He got hammered a couple times early, but allowed only one earned run on three hits and two walks over his last 7.1 IP. Considering that a couple years ago he knew nothing about baseball, that's remarkable progress. It remains to be seen how far he can go.

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