When dealing with the MLB draft, it makes me wonder if there is a good understanding of what the players actually endure while waiting for a phone call or even their name to be called on draft day.
The dream of a baseball career starts from the first day they pick up a baseball as a child, and continues to either draft day as a high school standout, or a college ball player. Both can also have their share of stresses as the players wait for the opportunity to finally say they are heading to play professional baseball.
I had an opportunity to talk with three ball players, of the many that are out there, that either have already gone through the draft process or are about to endure it and it doesn’t matter what level they are on, because the not knowing of what will happen, can keep any young athlete on the edge of his seat.
Dash Winningham, a standout first baseman with Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala Fl, helped to lead his school to their first 4A Florida State Championship this past season and Winningham, who is signed to attend FGCU in the fall, has also played well enough in front of the scouts, which may be a good sign that he too could have his name called on draft day.
“I can’t wait to see what my future holds with playing professional baseball now or college baseball next fall. My dream is to play pro ball and with having the scouts watch me, contact me and also the pre-draft workouts, its all been exciting.” Winningham continues, “But it’s really out of my control at this point, and even though I would love to start my professional career now, whichever road I take, I know I get to continue playing the game I love.”
At the end of the weekend, if for whatever reason Winningham is not taken in the draft, he still has college baseball to fall back on, which is still a sweet deal.
That is not the case with Stetson University Senior Michael Fernland, who just completed his last year of playing college baseball and is hoping that the draft will extend his baseball career. Fernland, who played high school baseball in Ocala, Fl, also played at two junior colleges in the southeastern part of Florida before eventually transferring to Stetson for his Junior and Senior years.
After not having a good overall season in his junior year, he wound up having to undergo shoulder surgery, with the hopes that he could return for his final season in college and play well enough to at least get noticed. Fernland worked his way back into baseball shape and by the middle of the 2014 season, he was given a start in left field and never looked back.
The native Floridian is one of the many college players that were standouts on their teams, but come draft day the phone may never ring, “Personally, it is the fear of the unknown more than anything. ‘Am I done playing baseball forever?’ ‘Will I play professionally?’ Right now, it’s not even a matter of ‘will I make it to the show,’ rather; ‘will I make it to the very next level?’,” says Fernland.
Fernland faces draft day with sure uncertainty, but the love for the game is what drives him to reach his goals and dreams.
“Playing professional baseball has always been my dream. I’ve talked about it since I was too young to understand what that even meant, and although I worked hard at a young age with those that had the same dream, I put myself through things that most others would not.” Fernland continues, “Everything I did, all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears, it was all done in good faith that I will one day get the nod to play baseball professionally.”
With all the hard work that Fernland has put in just to reach this point, he knows it was all worth it, but he also understands that there aren’t many options left and the draft poses a hope that just maybe he could join the ranks of the pro baseball world.
Allan Dykstra, first baseman for the Las Vegas 51s, understands all too well the stresses of the unknown that comes with the MLB draft. Dykstra was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round of the 2008 MLB Draft as a junior from Wake Forest University and even though he was selected, he recalls how stressful it was waiting for the opportunity to come, “It’s something that is hard to explain, because you wait your whole life for it. My entire junior year was mixed with anticipation about what was going to happen. I had people telling me when they thought I would get drafted, and it became very stressful. I feel for all the players that have to go through it now.”
Since Dykstra experienced the draft first hand, he figures that standing in the gap and leading the new generation of ball players through that process is key, “I talked with a few people about really creating an avenue for these young athletes going through the draft process.” Dykstra continues, “I just want to help the young kids that will experience this sort of situation, because you don’t really understand what they go through, until you do it yourself.”
From scouts visits, invitations to pre-draft workouts, to waiting if the phone will ring on draft day, and for some, not having any interest at all from any teams; it is all a guessing game and not many players know what to truly expect.
After the draft is over on Saturday, many dreams will come true, while some will be put on hold, but as hard as the waiting may be, most if not all of these young men wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to be in this situation.
The stresses of the unknown, just happens to be part of the whole process.
(Photo Credit: Cyndi Chambers, MMN and Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
