PITTSBURGH — Kevin Newman’s instincts proved correct.
The University of Arizona shortstop felt the Pirates were going to select him in the first round of Monday night’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. They did just that with the 19th overall selection.
“I would say they were the team that saw me the most or the second most of all the organizations,” Newman said. “All their front office people came in and I got the impression they were very interested. It’s exciting. It’s a dream come true.”
Newman hit .370 this spring as a junior with the Wildcats in 55 games and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection. He also had 19 doubles, one triple and two home runs in 227 at-bats with 20 strikeouts, 15 walks, 22 stolen bases, a .426 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage.
Last summer, he became the first player to win consecutive batting titles in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, hitting .380 for Falmouth after batting .375 the year before.
“I don’t try to hit home runs,” Newman said. “I try to hit the ball gap-to-gap and keep it off the ground. That’s an approach that’s worked well for me.”