McGeary Gem

by phiago on Aug 18, 2008 12:57 AM EDT

Jack McGeary had a great night tonight:

7 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 10 K.

I've been a big fan of Jack McGeary since I heard his story. First round talent taken in the 6th round because of signability questions: He wanted to play professional baseball but he wanted to go to Stanford. He signed at the last minute to a deal with the Nationals that, through some creative thinking by the Nationals brass, includes paying for him to follow both of those dreams.

What intrigue! He's on the West coast 3/4 of the year, the Nationals are on the East coast. He's studying for finals, his team is in spring training. He's working out and practicing, Stanford baseball will not let him practice with them or use their facilities.

He must go to Santa Clara University to find a team willing to let use their field. He plays catch with his brother, or a friend, or a small net, or a backstop, who knows. Anyway, I was really curious to see how he would do this year, and how he may progress through the Nationals farm system. It seems he can't start until June or July every year, then he'll have to go back to school in August or September...not much time to build strength or friendships or get promoted.

This is his first real great game pitched, 10K's are very impressive, no walks is as well. Over the season he's doing well: 53 IP, 56 K's, 12 BB only 2 HR. This is by far his best game. Here's some of the sites I've found with his story. I don't know why, but I like the one from the Stanford school paper. It seems like it's got a different perspective, not from baseball people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020403604.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/05/13/SPOM10L4FO.DTL&type=printable

http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/3/7/baller

What do you all think? TINSTAPP obviously applies. But if he makes the big leagues in 5 years it would be just like getting drafted after his Junior year and spending two years in the minors...without the college experience, but with more professional experience. I'm certainly intrigued. Has anyone seen him play?

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Go figure that Stanford won’t let him use their facilities . . .you’d think they were bitter about losing out on him as a ballplayer or something.

If he can stick to a good conditioning schedule, no reason why this can’t work. When you think about it, teams are already very careful about how much wear and tear their young arms take. The only real concern I have is that it may take him some time to build up his arm strength to be a starting pitcher over the course of a full season after graduation. The kid can obviously play.

by mrkupe on Aug 18, 2008 1:45 AM EDT reply actions

McGeary is a great story

I certainly wouldn’t bet against a kid with athletic ability and the brains to match, but he will lose an awful lot of development time with the Nats over the next few years. It’s a great story for parents like myself to use with children, but only if it actually works out for McGeary and the Nats organization.

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 18, 2008 10:05 AM EDT reply actions

Jack McGeary

He’s from a couple towns over from me…the kid has very solid stuff and is very composed on the mound. I’ve been preaching his name for a while now, and this start (and his season stats) have finally shown the talent the kid has.

Hopefully he can pan out cause I love rooting for those hometown Massachusetts kids

by smk1363 on Aug 18, 2008 5:21 PM EDT reply actions