Maryland baseball lost its second-best Class of 2018 commit after Jack Herman announced his intention to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Herman was drafted in the 30th round—894th overall pick—on Wednesday. He was projected to be drafted much earlier, between rounds 7-10. However, Pittsburgh was still able to ink him to a deal, most likely with a signing bonus above slot value for his pick number.
Eastern senior outfielder Jack Herman who batted .556 with 14 doubles and 41 RBIs will report to Pittsburgh June 18 for his physical before signing with Pirates. They have agreed to pay for his college education @easternviking pic.twitter.com/B0EEee05V4
— Philip Anastasia (@PhilAnastasia) June 7, 2018
The outfielder from Eastern High School in Voorhees, New Jersey, helped guide his team to their second Diamond Classic title in three years and the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group IV playoffs.
It’s important to note that Herman’s coach, Rob Christ, was involved in the Pirates organization before taking the head coaching job at Eastern 15 years ago, so the team definitely runs in the program, and Herman will be the next part of that.
He will report to Bradenton, Florida, the Pirates’ spring training home, on June 18 to the Gulf Coast League, per report. It’s unknown how much he signed for, but his college will be paid for by the team.
On being drafted, Herman told NJ.com, “this is going to motivate me to show people they were wrong.”
The three other current and future Terps selected this week—Nick Decker, Nick Dunn and Marty Costes—have until July 13 to sign contracts and join Herman in the pros.
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