Riley Pint, the former first-round pick from St. Thomas Aquinas, returns to baseball
Nine months after stepping away from baseball, seemingly for good, pitcher Riley Pint is ready to give the sport a second chance.
Pint, the former St. Thomas Aquinas High School star, retired in early June but he is coming back to the Rockies, player development director Chris Forbes told MLB.com.
Colorado drafted Pint with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, the highest a Kansas City-area player has been drafted.
Pint, 24, pitched in relief last season in Class A where he had a 3.38 ERA in 10 games before retiring in June.
Zach Wilson, the former Rockies assistant general manager of player development, told MLB.com last June that “some personal decisions” led to Pint stepping away.
Pint had a 5.56 ERA in 68 career appearances, including 40 starts, and he’s dealt with a number of injuries, notably forearm stiffness and also an oblique issue. He had 163 strikeouts and 134 walks in 166 2/3 innings as a professional.
But Pint, who is 6 foot 5 and 225 pounds, apparently has rekindled his love of baseball, and the Rockies are thrilled to welcome him back.
“Everybody is on his own time frame. I always love seeing the kid,” Forbes told MLB.com. “He’s a fantastic kid. I’m glad to see him back.”
Pint caught the attention of scouts for every Major League Baseball team when he reached 100 mph with his electric fastball while pitching in high school. The Rockies gave Pint a $4.8 million signing bonus after he was drafted.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 11:39 AM.
