Everybody’s here for a reason’: Muenster’s Logan Hofmann continues pro-ball progression
“Muenster is a great baseball town, and I wouldn’t have picked anywhere else to grow up. It’s my favourite place in the world.”Author of the article:Kevin Mitchell • Saskatoon StarPhoenixPublishing date:Apr 13, 2022 • 4 days ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
Logan Hofmann’s hometown is a baseball hotspot, but word doesn’t travel much below the border.
Muenster — where Hofmann, currently pitching in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system, hails from — has a long history with the game. For more than a century, Muenster’s men, women, boys and girls have found the local diamond a fine spot for gloving line drives and getting on deck.
But the fellows he’s playing with in Greensboro, N.C. can’t find the place on a map, quite understandably — or they couldn’t, until Hofmann came along.
“It’s happened a few times this year,” relates Hofmann, the Pirates’ fifth-round selection in the 2020 draft, and now a member of the high-A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
“They’re asking where I’m from and I tell them ‘Saskatchewan.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, what state is that above?’ I just say Montana and North Dakota. Then they’ll say, ‘So, how many people are from your town?’ I’ll say ‘450’ and they’re like, ‘Thousand?’ I’m ‘No, 450.’ Then I show them the town on the map, and they see 15 streets and no stop lights, and they’re confused.
“But where I grew up … Muenster is a great baseball town, and I wouldn’t have picked anywhere else to grow up. It’s my favourite place in the world.”
Weather-wise, Muenster — and Saskatchewan, in general — is not conducive to professional-baseball training during the winter. Many of Hofmann’s teammates train outdoors year-round; he opted to stay home this winter, and threw indoors at Saskatoon’s Gordie Howe Sports Centre as temperatures dropped below -40 C and snow piled up.
“There’s somewhere to actually throw to guys, and throw off a mound, which is great,” Hofmann says. “But obviously, it would be nice to throw on a dirt mound, outside, leading up to spring training — which I could do if I wanted to, but this year, I chose to stay at home and do my work here.”
No other Saskatchewan baseball player has been chosen higher in the MLB draft than Hofmann, who went 138th overall in 2020. He landed that lofty position after pitching 28 scoreless innings at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, during a season interrupted by COVID-19.
He broke into the professional ranks last season in Bradenton, Fla., putting up a 6-4 record with a 3.59 ERA, while striking out 103 in 82 2/3 innings as both a starter and reliever.
He was promoted to high-A this season, and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his Greensboro debut. He’s attracted some attention from prospects sites.
The piratesprospects.com site writes: “His 5’10” frame doesn’t scream pitcher, nor does the fact he hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada,” before delving into his offerings — good four-pitch mix, and an impressive spin rate.
“Logan Hofmann: Spin rate makes righty interesting prospect to watch,” reads the headline.
“Analytics stuff, those numbers … if you want to be a good pitcher, you’ve got to have some kind of thing that sticks out,” Hofmann says.
“(Various prospect sites) rank a lot of guys, but I honestly don’t care about that. I haven’t really been ranked in anything my whole life growing up. I never made Team Canada in high school. There’s a guy (Matt Brash) who made his big league debut last night for the Mariners, and he never made Team Canada, either. I don’t think any of that stuff matters to me. I’m just going to go out there and pitch, and good things will happen.”
So after throwing indoors back home in Saskatchewan, and then a month-long spring training, Hofmann is in North Carolina, adjusting to a new level of baseball.
“Guys come from everywhere. Everybody’s good. Everybody’s here for a reason,” he says of life as a pro, and now he’s playing one step higher, tossing his way up the ladder.
“The first thing I’ve noticed (at this level),” he says, “is guys don’t chase as much. You can throw pitches right outside the zone, and they don’t chase as much as low-A guys. They foul a lot of stuff off, compared to low-A hitters, and it’s a noticeable jump. It just comes with it. You’ve got to make adjustments, and be a better pitcher at this level.”
And his season goals?
“I don’t want to think, ‘Oh, I need to get moved up by this point’ — I don’t want to set those kinds of goals, because it’s not in my control,” Hofmann says. “I’ve just got to go out there and make pitches, and those things will take care of themselves.”
