MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo dropped some pretty big draft news on Tuesday afternoon when he tweeted that Pennsylvania’s Nick Bitsko was graduating early from high school, officially making him eligible for the 2020 MLB Draft.
Some @MLBDraft news: HS RHP Nick Bitsko from Eastern PA will graduate early, which will make the @UVABaseball commit eligible for the 2020 #MLBDraft. Potential top 10 pick this June.
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) January 7, 2020
Mayo points out that Bitsko could potentially slot in as a top 10 pick come draft time. Bitsko is a 6-foot-3, 225 pound right-handed pitcher with physicality and athleticism on the mound. He works from an over-the-top slot and throws all three of his pitches with conviction. Bitsko does throw with some effort, but his delivery is very clean and there aren’t any eye-popping mechanical issues.
His fastball sits between 92-96 mph and touched 97 mph at East Coast Pro this past summer. It has heavy life and he’s shown the ability to pound both sides of the plate, particularly the outside corner to right-handed hitters. His primary secondary pitch his a power curve that works between 78-82 mph with sharp bite and is already a real swing-and-miss pitch. While he does have feel for a changeup with natural sink, he doesn’t throw it much because he hasn’t needed to, which is the case with most hard-throwing prep arms. Regardless, Bitsko has power stuff with polish and feel for each pitch he throws.
Here's some video of Nick Bitsko from that event, so you can get a look for yourself: pic.twitter.com/yh4pLbniNg
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) January 7, 2020
The conversation will now shift towards who is the top prep arm in this class. Refugio’s Jared Kelley may maintain his grasp on the top spot for now, simply because he’s pitched against the best in this class and dominated them, but both Bitsko and Mick Abel aren’t too far behind. Adding Bitsko to an already talented class of pitching prospects makes this 2020 class more special than we thought it would be.