Seattle Mariners select Wake Forest pitcher commit Ryan Sloan in 2024 MLB Draft

Wake Forest pitcher commit Ryan Sloan has heard his name called in the 2024 MLB Amateur Draft. The Seattle Mariners selected him with the No. 55 overall pick in the second round.

Sloan put together a decorated high school career at York Community High School in Illinois, with a fastball topping out upward of 100 miles per hour. The Gatorade Player of the Year, he finished his senior year with a 0.30 ERA along with 90 strikeouts across 46 innings of work while helping YCHS to another fourth-place finish in the state of Illinois.

During his career at York, Sloan cemented himself as one of the top pitchers in the country after announcing his commitment to Wake Forest in February 2021. The key to his success is having the right mentality, though, and that’s helping set him up for a potential pro career.

“I always thought like you can’t get too high or too low,” Sloan said, via CBS Chicago’s Jori Parys. “Like, you’ve just got to stay on an even line, and eventually, you know, over time, you’ll end up going up. You know, you can’t give into, like, all the curves.”

Scouting report on Ryan Sloan

Sloan is known as a flamethrower, which was a key part of his success at the high school level, but can also mix in different speeds with his fastball. He can also add in some off-speed pitches to mess with hitters even more, and that’s part of what made him intriguing as an MLB Draft prospect.

“Gatorade’s Illinois high school player of the year, Sloan shows the ability to manipulate a 93-96 mph fastball that tops out at 99, as he can ride and run it at the top of the zone, cut it in on left-handers or sink it for ground balls,” MLB.com’s scouting report said. “He has a more advanced changeup than most prepsters, throwing hitters off balance with a mid-80s cambio that fades and sinks. His low-80s slider is nearly as good, featuring two-plane depth and some horizontal action as well.

“Six-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Sloan has a strong lower half and is built to eat innings. A Wake Forest recruit, he uses his size to create extension and a flat approach angle to add deception. He repeats his delivery well and throws his entire arsenal for quality strikes.”