Moose Jaw Miller Express alumnus Logan Hofmann signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates a few weeks ago but isn't able to play any minor league baseball this year due to the pandemic.

It's been only a few months since Hofmann's first season with Northwestern State University in NCAA Div. I ended early due to the pandemic, after which he was drafted in the fifth round and then signed by the Pirates.

“It’s been pretty crazy obviously,” said Hofmann, the highest-drafted MLB pitcher born in Saskatchewan. “We only played 16 games this year and then it got cut off. It was just a whirlwind of things going on. And then I got home at the end of March from school. From there, obviously we had no idea what was going on either. And then once it got nice out again, I started throwing again (at the) end of April.”

Listed at 5-10, 190 pounds, Hofmann was dynamite at Northwestern State, striking out 38 in 28 innings, allowing only 14 hits and five walks with an earned run average of 0.00. In 2019, he throw 16 innings at Falmouth of the Cape Cod league, whiffing 22 batters over 16 innings.

Hofmann had a solid 2018 with the Millers, striking out 21 in 14 and a third innings of relief, with a 2.51 ERA and a 4-1 win-loss record. His ERA was the lowest that season of any pitcher on the Miller Express with at least ten innings.

Hofmann was in Moose Jaw recently to help with ballplayers at the Sowden-Flanagan Baseball Training Centre. His advice to the players was to keep at it and train consistently as much as possible.

“Not only on the field but off the field too, whether it’s watching baseball games, watching video on guys, in the weight room and that kind of thing,” he said. “I would say you can’t just take days off at a time from doing things and just get back into it and be the same player you were.”

While Hofmann can't pitch this year, he's looking to what he hopes can happen next year if training camps can open.

“I’m not too sure if it’s February or March or that kind of thing, and then play some games there, and then they’ll place us on teams,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be starting out.”