Local prep pitchers set to sign Major League Baseball contracts Wednesday

Two Kansas City-area pitchers are set to sign Major League Baseball contracts totaling nearly $8 million combined this week.

Riley Pint, the St. Thomas Aquinas graduate drafted fourth overall by the Colorado Rockies, is scheduled to sign a contract worth $4.8 million. He is planning on signing Wednesday after the results of his physical are finalized, according to his father, Neil. Pint is the highest-ever MLB draft pick from the Kansas City area.

Joey Wentz, from Shawnee Mission East, was chosen 40th in the draft’s supplemental first round by the Braves. On Wednesday he will fly to Atlanta, where he’ll take his physical and sign his contract. The slot value for this year’s 40th pick was set to be $1,616,800, but Wentz will sign a deal worth close to double that, at $3.05 million.

Both players will forgo college careers. Pint was previously committed to LSU, and Wentz to Virginia.

They are two of the best pitchers to come out of the Kansas City area in recent memory. Wentz threw 26 hitless innings to start his season, and finished with 104 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in 51  1/3 innings, allowing seven hits all year.

Pint allowed 22 hits in 49 IP, and struck out 87 for St. Thomas Aquinas.

Both players finished their time in Kansas with state championships — Wentz’s SM East team won the 6A state title, and Pint helped lead Aquinas to a 5A trophy.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Local prep pitchers set to sign Major League Baseball contracts Wednesday."