WASHINGTON — This June, the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft could be dominated by high school arms in a way we haven’t seen in years. Highly touted Riley Pint from Kansas and Jason Groome from New Jersey lead the class, which could see as many as four or five high school pitchers taken in the top half of the first round.
While Jake Agnos from Battlefield High School in Virginia may have to wait a little longer to hear his name called, there’s no arguing with the numbers he’s put up, which are among the best in the nation.
It’s been a year since Agnos first made headlines both locally and nationally, turning in a record-setting performance that technically didn’t count. Last year on May 21, the southpaw surrendered a leadoff home run, regrouped and struck out the side. Then he fanned the side again and again in the third. When all was said and done, he punched out 21 straight batters, recording every out of the seven-inning game by strikeout.
There was just one problem — his seven innings, combined with the eight he’d thrown earlier in the week, put him over the state limit, despite his combined pitch count staying well below. Battlefield forfeited the game, but they fought for the record to be restored, which it was.
High school is the last level where such legends can grow by word-of-mouth. For instance, there’s the matter of how many immaculate innings — nine pitches, three strikeouts — Agnos turned in. USA Today reported it as two, The Washington Post three.
Even though Agnos tossed a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts this season, the 21-K day still stands out as his career highlight thus far.
“That was probably the best moment of my life,” he told WTOP on a recent rainy day in Haymarket, Virginia. “I had people in the crowd that I knew were coming. It was the first time my brother was seeing me; he came back from college … I really didn’t realize what was happening until it was over.”
Agnos has backed up his record-setting performance this season. He’s won each of the eight times he’s taken the mound, notching double-digit strikeouts in all but two outings. His ERA sits at 0.48 and he’s fanned an even 100 batters in just 44 innings — or, to put it another way, 100 of the 159 that have stood in to face him this year.
Agnos has also been the team’s best hitter, batting an even .400 and swiping 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts.
“We don’t have captains, but if I was to label one, I would definitely give him that ‘C’ on his chest,” said Battlefield head coach Jay Burkart, whose Bobcats (19-3, 8-0) earned the top seed in the upcoming regionals. “He wants it, he accepts it and he leads by example.”
You might think Major League teams would be drooling over a left-handed pitching prospect with those kinds of numbers and recommendations. He sits in the low-90s on his fastball, occasionally touching as high as 94, with two variations of a curveball and a developing change-up. And they certainly have been taking notice as the season has stretched on.
“You can tell it’s getting to that crunchtime,” said Burkart of the MLB teams sending scouts ahead of the draft. “Guys are jostling around, cross checkers, guys a little higher up the chain.”
There’s just one thing — in a pitching prospect world dominated by big, projectable bodies, Agnos stands only 5 feet 10 inches.
“I’d be lying if I said my height wasn’t a factor,” said Agnos. “I’ve heard it all. You think of the prototypical baseball player, you think 6-2 to 6-4. But I haven’t let that stop me and what I do have is my left hand.”
He certainly wouldn’t be the first dogged by height concerns to have a stellar career and prove scouts wrong. Tim Hudson fell to the sixth round of the draft despite a stellar college career, then racked up 222 wins in a 17-year big league career. Pedro Martinez stands just 5 feet 11 inches and won three Cy Young Awards in a four-year stretch.
Agnos points to Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Keuchel — both lefties — as current pitchers after whom he models his game. With the way he bends his back slightly during his windup and hides the ball behind his head, his delivery is somewhat reminiscent of another compact lefty, Johan Santana. But the biggest thing for Agnos is that he wants the opportunity to start, not get pushed to the bullpen. With a scholarship to East Carolina already in hand, he has the leverage to choose whether or not to sign with a big league club.
“My goal is to be a starting pitcher throughout my career,” he said. “I want to play for a team that trusts me and wants me to be there, and sees me as being a dominant pitcher throughout their organization.”
