DENVER — Capping off a successful draft week for Saint Mary's Baseball, the Gaels learned that one more of their standout pitchers is officially off on a pro career. With the first pick of the 17^th round, going at 493^rd overall, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected senior right-handed pitcher Carlos Lomeli, giving the Gaels three draft picks in the 2021 MLB First Year Player Draft.
 
Carlos Lomeli began the 2021 season as the Gaels Friday starter, after spending the abbreviated 2020 season in the same capacity. His record was 5-6 and his ERA was 4.21 across 72.2 innings, but those numbers don't tell the entire story. He struggled early in the season and had one outing against Cal that really inflated his numbers, making it hard to bring them down in a small sample size. Take that one outing away, however, and Lomeli pitched to a 3.27 ERA in 68.2 innings, meaning there was plenty good to talk about during his final season in Moraga.
 
Lomeli struck out 66 on the year and has the ability to blow away hitters with a mid-90s fastball and a wipeout slider, easily his best strikeout pitch. That was on display several times during the year, including his second start of the year, where he punched out 11 California Baptist hitters in 6.2 shutout innings on February 26, helping him be named WCC Pitcher of the Week. He made a return bid for the award in his final outing as a Gael, getting the start on May 21 against Santa Clara, pitching the lone complete game of the season for Saint Mary's and the second of his career. That win in the final home game of 2021 was the 15^th and final win in his stellar Gael career.
 
"Carlos has been a winner for four years in Moraga," head coach Greg Moore commented on his versatile right-hander. "What he does with the ball will translate well in professional baseball, and for a long time."
 
The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the middle of a rebuilding phase, having not made the playoffs since the 2015 season. They are actively sitting in last place in the NL Central, but they do have some stars on their team. Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds are both starters in the All-Star game for Pirates, providing high averages and a lot of extra-base hit power in the middle of the order. Their starting rotation is a concern, however, and that's where Lomeli figures to play a role if given a chance to pitch as a starter in the Pirates minor league system.
 
All of the minor league affiliates for the Pirates are scattered on the East Coast, starting with the Bradenton Marauders of Low-A ball. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a new High-A affiliate, while the Altoona Curve (AA) and Indianapolis Indians (AAA) have been staples in their farm system for years.
 
Lomeli is the first Gael to be drafted by the Pirates since Connor Loeprich in the 20^th round of 2018, when Lomeli was a freshman. Loeprich was the only Gael prior to be drafted by the Pirates organization, but there have been a few Gaels to spend time in Pittsburgh. Ed Morris and Fred Carroll were the first known Gaels to play in Pittsburgh, when they were known as the Alleghenys, from 1885-1891 (they were the Pittsburgh Burghers in 1890-1891). Pete Scott played 60 games with Pittsburgh in 1920, Ed Fitzgerald spent parts of six season in Pittsburgh from 1948-1953, and Bill Howertown was in Pittsburgh for 93 games from 1951-52.
 
This marks the third time in the last four years the Gaels have had three players selected in one draft (2018, 2019). Saint Mary's has never had more than four players taken in one draft, with that coming during the 2016 draft. Lomeli is now the 73^rd Gael all-time taken in the MLB First Year Player Draft.