MLB Draft 2020: Oakland A’s select Dane Acker with No. 127 overall pick

The Oakland A’s selected Dane Acker in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB Draft on Thursday, with the No. 127 overall pick. The 21-year-old is a right-handed pitcher from University of Oklahoma.

Here’s part of Baseball America’s scouting report on Acker:

Acker isn’t flashy, but the sum of the parts makes everything work very well. He’s durable, he has above-average command and he carries his stuff deep into games. His average fastball can touch 94 mph, but he generally pitches more at 91-92, showing plenty of sink (he can elevate a four-seamer as well). His 78-81 mph average curveball is a big breaker while his fringe-average slider is cutterish, with modest break aiming to avoid the sweet spot of the bat. He also has shown both feel and confidence in his average changeup that has some late fade.

There are plenty of college pitchers with more upside than Acker, but he will outlast plenty of them in pro ball because he has a clean delivery, is durable and is a better pitcher than most.

BA ranked Acker at No. 134 on their pre-draft board, and ESPN at 142, though he was absent from the MLB Pipeline Top 200 and the FanGraphs Top 230. Similarly, the A’s 3rd-round pick, outfielder Michael Guldberg out of Georgia Tech, wasn’t on any of the major pre-draft boards. Acker is listed on MLB Pipeline at 6’2, 189 pounds.

Melissa Lockard of The Athletic praises Acker as a “good performer” with “a feel for the strike zone.”

Acker’s college stats (via Baseball Cube) come from three different schools. His freshman year he pitched for Rice, then as a sophomore he was at San Jacinto JC, and finally as a junior he moved to Oklahoma.

• 2018: 4.20 ERA, 40⅔ ip, 32 Ks, 21 BB, 2 HR, 49 hits
• 2019: 2.36 ERA, 76⅓ ip, 97 Ks, 32 BB, 4 HR, 59 hits
• 2020: 3.51 ERA, 25⅔ ip, 28 Ks, 5 BB, 2 HR, 15 hits

In March, Acker threw a no-hitter against LSU. Baseball America reports it was the first nine-inning no-no ever against the Tigers. and MLB Network noted it was the first by a Sooners pitcher since 1989. Here’s a video of all 27 outs in that game:

Click here for more video, from Perfect Game Baseball.

The A’s next and final pick is in the 5th round, No. 157 overall.