ZACK VON ROSENBERG

9/24/90; '09 6th; Zachary, LA (HS)
R/R; 6-5, 205

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2009 HS

11-1-2

93.0

141

1.7

13.6

0.80

0.60

2009 R

0-0-0

1.0

0.0

9.0

0.00

.000

0.00

Thanks to the oddities of MLB's amateur draft, as well as the Pirates' draft strategy, Von Rosenberg may be the second most promising player the Pirates drafted, even though he went in round 6. In fact, Baseball America didn't rank him, at #41 overall, much lower than first round selection Tony Sanchez, who was #32 overall. He had a storied high school career, winning games to clinch the state title in four straight years. It's not clear why Von Rosenberg fell so far, as BA believed he'd pass up his LSU scholarship if taken in the first two rounds. He and his family are, however, big LSU fans and he went to the College World Series to watch LSU win the national championship. BA characterized him as having good command of a fastball, curve and change. His velocity is 88-91, but the Pirates no doubt expect it to increase. I see that projection with every drafted pitcher who's 6'4" or taller with a lean frame, but it never seems to happen, at least not with the Pirates.

In any event, Von Rosenberg reached agreement with the Pirates on a bonus of $1.2M about a week before the signing deadline. His signing capped off a flurry in which the Pirates agreed to terms, for above-slot money, with him, Colton Cain and Zack Dodson over a period of just a couple days. This partly validated the team's draft strategy of paying slot money to Tony Sanchez in the first round in order to spend considerable, above-slot money in later rounds. (The complete validation, of course, comes if and when the draft produces at the major league level.) Von Rosenberg managed to pitch an inning on the final day of the GCL season. It's possible he could follow Quinton Miller's lead and head for State College or even West Virginia at some point in 2010.

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