The Cincinnati Reds have signed right handed pitcher Stephen Keller. He was the Reds 35th round draft pick in the 2017 draft. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer was the first to report the signing. There is no report on his signing bonus at this point in time, but when it becomes available (if it’s an overslot deal), the 2017 Cincinnati Reds Draft Tracker will be updated to reflect that.
Being a high school pick from the 35th round, on the surface it seemed like he would be a tough sign simply due to where he was taken and that he was coming out of the high school ranks. Baseball America ranked him as the 434th best player in the draft.
The right hander is already 19-years-old and he will be 20 when the 2018 season begins. He is one of the oldest players from the high school crop in the most recent draft. Something to keep in mind when it comes to future Rule 5 protections, because of his age, he will be treated on the same page as college players from this draft rather than other high school players.
Stephen Keller is listed at 6′ 2″ and 210 lbs, so he’s got plenty of size already working for him on the mound. His fastball come in in the low 90’s. He also reportedly throws a curveball for his secondary offering and it flashes itself as an above-average pitch already while working in the mid-70’s.
The Houston Astros brought him in for a pre-draft workout. You can watch some of the video from that day below.
You can also see some video of him from MLB.com at this link, though most of it is from the summer of 2016, with only one pitch from 2017 in the video. The clip from 2017 is him catching an opposing batter looking at a called strike on a curveball.