For the third consecutive year, the Orioles took a pitcher in the first round. Hunter Harvey, a high school pitcher from Catawba, N.C., who’s the son of former major league closer Bryan Harvey, was selected 22nd overall on Thursday night.
Harvey, who is listed as 6-foot-3 and 175 lbs.was 8-0 with an 0.38 ERA at Bandys High School.
“Harvey is a future front line starter. He is a tall, lean projectable right-handed pitcher with a good fastball, good curveball, and a changeup. He throws strikes, competes, and comes from a baseball family,” Gary Rajsich, the Orioles director of scouting wrote in a tweet.
His father had 177 career saves in eight saves with the Angels and Marlins from 1987-95. Harvey’s brother Kris, who’s 10 years older, is a pitcher with Double-A Altoona in the Pirates organization.
One of the players the Orioles had reportedly coveted, South Carolina high school catcher Nick Ciuffo, was taken immediately ahead of Harvey by Tampa Bay.
The Orioles hadn’t chosen this low since 1998. In the previous two drafts, the Orioles selected Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.
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