Mariners select RHP Ryan Sloan in the Second Round of the 2024 MLB Draft

Mariners make good on their avowal that they’re not afraid of high school pitching in this draft, take prepster Sloan with pick #55

The Mariners took more pitching with their second selection in today’s MLB Draft, closing up Day Two with a prep arm: 6’4” righty Ryan Sloan, out of York HS in Elmhurst, IL. Sloan is a big, physical kid that is committed to Wake Forest, usually a tough school to sign pitchers away from. That said, there shouldn’t be an overwhelming amount of concern on his signability; teams typically don’t make a selection this high unless they feel confident that he is going pro, and per Scott Hunter, Sloan was already wearing a Mariners hat in his Facetime call with the team, so hopefully that’s a good sign.

Sloan isn’t the first time the Mariners have gone for a cold-weather high school pitcher, perhaps the most risky of the already riskiest draft demographic. The Mariners took Michael Limoncelli from upstate New York in the sixth round in 2019. Additionally, in the 2022 draft, the M’s selected Ashton Izzi out of the same state as Sloan, Illinois, in the fourth round. It’s not an exact match from player to player, but it does provide a bit of context for their risk tolerance. Sloan was projected to go in the first round by multiple outlets—perhaps even as the first prep pitcher taken overall—and the Mariners felt they couldn’t risk walking by a talent like Sloan’s, even if it requires getting “creative,” as Scott Hunter said, with the Day Two bonuses.

“We’re excited to get two picks on Day One that we felt were first-round talents, and to be able to do that in a year that we were really wondering what will be in front of us during this draft compared to other drafts is an exciting moment for our organization,” said Hunter, who said the team was actually considering Sloan as the backup plan to first-rounder Jurrangelo Cijntje if something had gone wonky with that pick.

“We saw him slip a little bit,” said Hunter, “and we just kept staying in touch with the agent.”

The Mariners have been on Sloan since last summer, when he was identified by area scouts before Scott Hunter was able to see him at the high school All-American Game, where he impressed, but Hunter says Sloan ascended to a different level once he started developing his changeup. As a pitcher, Sloan features a big time fastball that has touched 100 and averages 95-96 mph. It’s his primary weapon as a starter and his best pitch at current. Outside of the heater, he sports a breaking ball that can vary in shape as well as the aforementioned changeup. Most outlets have Sloan’s changeup as his best secondary, a rarity for a prep arm that typically indicates advanced feel; Hunter said the thing that really stood out to him from a scouting perspective was his ability to “deaden” the baseball as such a young pitcher. The slider is no slouch either, getting big time two plane break but lacks consistency. Sloan has an easy and repeatable delivery that has allowed him to command his arsenal well.

“It’s a six-foot-four, physical, built for innings type of body that is going to have three power pitches in our mind,” said Hunter.

Sloan features some of highest upside for an arm in the high school ranks and is incredibly exciting clay to work with for the Seattle pitching development team. It’s likely to cost a hefty sum and there’s always risk associated with high school arms, but as Hunter puts it, “if you’re going to try to take a high school pitcher, you shoot for top-of-the-rotation type of potential and this is the type of body and stuff that is that.”

It’s what made the Mariners comfortable with risking a significant bonus amount on Sloan in the second round and change the rest of their draft strategy—although as Hunter pointed out, the organization has done well to identify smaller school or older players like RJ Schreck, Spencer Packard, Ben Williamson, and Tyler Locklear who are not flashy first-rounders but provide value and depth. “As Jerry says, it’s not about what you take, it’s about what you’re walking by, and to walk by Ryan Sloan after a few players we were looking at...it just didn’t make sense to us,” said Hunter. “So we figured, let’s push our chips into the middle and go for it a little bit.”

Sloan won the Gatorade Player of the Year for Illinois this past year, and the lofty praise he received was echoed by legendary Illinois prep baseball coach Paul Belo, who said when Sloan received the accolade:

“Ryan Sloan is the best high school pitcher I’ve seen in my 34 years of coaching Illinois high school baseball. His efforts are smooth and easy and he is one of the few high school athletes who appears so polished at such a young age. He is composed and mature well beyond his years.”

That maturity also stood out to Scott Hunter and his team, who praise Sloan’s growth mindset and extreme maturity for a high school player. Andy McKay reportedly left his pre-draft mental skills meeting with Sloan saying “if you’re going to do high school pitcher, this is the one to do it with.”

“There’s just a different presence there,” said Hunter. “He’s mature, he’s well-spoken and thought-out. When you meet with a young player, sometimes their parents will speak for them. This kid did everything on his own...he just has that little extra thing, old time scouts would say, like when they walk in a room. There’s a presence there. He’s got a really easygoing personality, but with a fierce mentality about how he wants to get better.”

Day Two will begin at 11am PT and features eight Mariner selections, beginning with pick number 91.