Cole Winn


Cole Robert Winn is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization.

Career

Winn spent his freshman, sophomore, and junior years of high school at Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colorado. As a junior in 2017 he was 9–0 with a 0.73 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 47.2 innings, along with batting.388 with two home runs and 19 RBIs, earning himself the title of Colorado's Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. That summer, in July, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field. He then transferred to Lutheran High School of Orange County in Orange, California for his senior year. As a senior, he pitched to an 8–2 record with a 0.20 ERA and was named California's Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and Baseball America's High School Player of the Year. He originally committed to play college baseball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but decommitted and then signed to play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Winn was selected 15th overall by the Texas Rangers in the 2018 MLB draft and signed for $3.15 million.
After signing, Winn did not appear in an official game with a Rangers' affiliate in the 2018 season. Instead he took part in a new program put in place by Texas for their newly drafted high school pitchers. The "de-load" program as the organization calls it, emphasizes building a foundation mentally and physically, while resting the pitchers bodies from a strenuous senior season and pre-draft showcase circuit. The players are put through a strength program and classroom work until post season fall instructional training starts. Winn was ranked as the #89 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline in their preseason 2019 Top 100 list. He was also ranked as the #72 overall prospect in baseball by ESPN's Keith Law in his preseason 2019 Top 100 list. He was ranked as the #78 overall prospect in baseball by Fangraphs in their preseason 2019 Top 130 list.
Winn was assigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League on May 16, 2019, and produced a 4–4 record with a 4.46 ERA in 68.2 innings for them.