2019 MLB Draft: White Sox take Nate Pawelczyk in the 10th round (290th overall)

With their 10th round pick, the White Sox selected pitcher Nate Pawelczyk from Winthrop University. Below is his profile:

Nate Pawelczyk
Winthrop
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 21
Bats Right
Throws Right

Rankings

Baseball America NA
MLB NA
FanGraphs NA

Pawelczyk, a native of Pompano Beach, Fla., is the sixth consecutive college senior selected by the White Sox in this year’s draft. He began his collegiate career as a reliever, but had far greater success in subsequent years as a starter. These are his stats for the Eagles:

2016 19 G, 0 GS, 0-2, 10.80 ERA, 2.20 WHIP, 25 IP, 39 H, 16 BB, 22 K
2017 16 G, 11 GS, 7-2, 2.23 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 76.2 IP, 53 H, 32 BB, 69 K
2018 14 G, 14 GS, 7-6, 3.77 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 88 IP, 76 H, 37 BB, 77 K
2019 15 G, 14 GS, 9-4, 3.90 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 92 IP, 90 H, 29 BB, 83 K

Pawelczyk, although he surrendered a few more hits this year, significantly improved his control as he reduced his BB/9 ratio from 3.77 to 2.83 from the year before. Often when someone improves their control and surrender more hits, his strikeout rate also would usually drop. That wasn’t the case with Pawelczyk (pronounced Puh-WEL-chick) this year, as his K/9 ratio improved slightly from 7.85 to 8.09. He’s 6´1´´, 190 pounds, and his fastball likely runs low-to-mid 90s as it was clocked at 91 mph while he was a prep senior by Perfect Game. He was named a First Team All-Big South Conference pitcher. In addition, his teammate, Zach Peek, was selected in the sixth round by the Angels. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are Pawelczyk’s accomplishments during his sophomore and junior campaigns:

Junior (2018)

• Appeared in 14 contests, starting all 14 on the mound
• Went 7-6 in those 14 starts, his seven wins being the most of any Winthrop pitcher
• Finished the year second on the team in innings pitched (88 ¹⁄₃) and strikeouts (77)
• Allowed just a .230 batting average against, which was Winthrop’s best among pitchers with at least 10 innings logged
• Twice had starts of eight innings, against Maryland Eastern Shore on February 24 and UNC Asheville on April 20, earning the win in both games
• Second Team All-Big South selection

Sophomore (2017)

• Made 16 appearances with 11 starts
• Finished first on the team in wins (7) and ERA (2.23)
• Finished first on the team in opponent batting average (.192) and strikeouts (69)
• Was second on the team with 18 strikeouts looking and third on the team in innings pitched with 76 ²⁄₃
• First Team All-Big South selection
• Finished the season 7-2 with a 2.23 ERA and one save, with 69 strikeouts and 32 walks in 76 ²⁄₃ innings pitched

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White Sox most successful 10th round pick: Matt Guerrier, RHRP, 1999, Kent State

Last year’s 10th round pick: Bennett Sousa, LHRP, Virginia