Pirates 2nd-round draft pick Anthony Solometo: Need to dominate batters 'like an addiction'

Every athlete hopes to dominate the opponent, but Anthony Solometo takes his approach toward that end one intense step further.

Something like what a shark feels when it sees blood in the water, he said.

“It was kind of like an addiction,” the Pittsburgh Pirates’ second-round draft choice said Tuesday after signing his contract with the team. “That’s the best way to put it.”

He signed for $2.8 million — $800,700 above slot value for the No. 37 pick, a source confirmed to the Tribune-Review. The Pirates were able to go above slot after first-round draft choice Henry Davis signed for $1,915,300 under slot.

Welcome to the Burgh, Anthony! pic.twitter.com/uu5SYZFXf6

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 20, 2021

Solometo, a 6-foot-5 left-hander with a sidearm delivery he likes to describe as “funky,” was 4-0 with one save, 0.21 ERA, 64 strikeouts and five walks in 32²⁄₃ innings as a senior this year.

In three games in a two-week span from April 23 to May 7, Solometo struck out 11 batters twice and 14 once for Bishop Eustace Prep in Pennsauken, N.J.

“One start went by, and I saw the people around me having pretty good games,” said Solometo, 18. “Now, my job for the rest of the year was to blow everybody else out of the water.

“Once I got that first taste of blood in the one-hitter against Ocean City, I just became addicted to that feeling of just absolutely dominating.

“I’ve always had that addiction, but once I get a fresh start every single season with a fresh wound in the area and I smell the blood like a shark, I’m excited to jump all over it.”

He said his best pitch is a two-seam fastball. It has touched 96 mph, and his slider has been measured in the low 80s. But he also throws a four-seamer.

“A big part of this year was my four-seam inside,” he said. “It makes me a threat from all different angles whether it be up, down, left, right.”

He compares his “funky” delivery — it incorporates a big arm swing and the left arm behind his back — to left-handers Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw.

“For me, I think funky is a great word to describe (himself),” he said. “I’m a lot of fun. I like to be a funky dancer out there sometimes.”

Yet Solometo said he carries two separate personalities: one when he’s not getting ready to pitch and another when it’s almost game time.

“Five days out of the baseball week, I’m always fun to be around, having a good time,” he said. “Day six and seven, which is the day before I pitch and the day I pitch, I’m a totally different person.

“It’s not in a mean way. It’s not like, ‘Hey, don’t talk to me,’ pushing people around. I just keep to myself. I drink my water (1½ to 2 gallons the day before the game), and I start getting immensely locked in and prepared to dominate the team the next day. The day I’m pitching, I’m visualizing success. Once my job is done, I can relax.”

“He’s just a dog,” Sebastian Pisacreta, a catcher at Bishop Eustace and a Pitt commit, said of Solometo’s work ethic. “I’m blessed he’s on our team and I’m his teammate.”

Joe DelliCarri, the Pirates’ senior director of amateur scouting, said he enjoys being in Solometo’s company.

“Not from the standpoint of great personality only,” DelliCarri said, “but his intensity of learning and wanting to grow and watching him over the last six to eight months with our scouting group.

“He owns everything he has put into his career. We’re looking forward to him continuing to do that with putting great people and resources in front of him. I can only smile about that.”

Solometo, who will begin his career in the Florida Complex League, signed the day after Davis did the same.

The Pirates haven’t signed Lonnie White Jr. and Bubba Chandler, two high school prospects chosen after Solometo in the Competitive Balance B and third rounds. Solometo said they stay in touch through group chats.

“We’re all really excited to see that we’re part of a great draft,” he said. “We’re all really excited to see what the future holds.”