A Pair of South Jersey Pitchers Hoping to Hear Their Name Called at MLB Draft

Don’t look now, but the 2021 MLB Draft gets underway this weekend and a pair of local pitchers are hoping to hear their names called in the first-round.

Mainland senior Chase Petty and Bishop Eustace Prep lefty Anthony Solometo are being mocked in the first round as we edge closer to Sunday.

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CBS Sports has their latest mock draft out with the Mustangs pitcher landing at No. 22 to the Chicago White Sox.

They've also been connected to Petty, the hardest throwing high school pitcher in the draft, throughout the spring. Chicago is not afraid of unconventional deliveries (Chris Sale, Garrett Crochet, etc.) and Petty fits in that regard.

Petty who has hit 100-mph on radar guns this season is a University of Florida commit, and stands 6-foot-2, 190-pounds. and had an impressive senior campaign, giving up just 13 hits, six earned runs, with 82 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched.

As for Solometo, a 6-foot-5, 218-pound lefty, is penciled in to stay in the northeast, with the New York Yankees selecting him at pick No. 20 in the first-round. Solometo also has a scholarship to the University of North Carolina that he can consider.

Despite going very position player heavy early in the last few drafts, the Yankees have been linked to pitchers more often than not the last few weeks. Solometo is not in their backyard -- he goes to high school across the Delaware River from Philadelphia -- but they've been connected to him this spring, and he fits their mold as a southpaw with command and analytics friendly pitch profiles. He'd also be their third Anthony in the last four first rounds (Anthony Seigler in 2018 and Anthony Volpe in 2019). Might as well continue cornering the market on Tonys.

Both players should hear their names called pretty high and could give South Jersey a pair of pitchers in the big leagues in the near future.