McGeary in Viera
March 13th, 2009
Good news courtesy of Barry Svrluga over at NJ
Jack McGeary is here. It’s not normal for a 20-year-old pitcher who made 12 starts in the Gulf Coast League and one in the New York-Penn League last year to hold a news conference the day he arrives at camp. But the Nationals are getting some reporters together to talk to McGeary (you remember: sixth-round pick, first-round money in 2007) so the kid can clarify his future.
More is being made of this than it means, but the upshot is this: McGeary is not dropping out of Stanford. Rather, he plans to skip the spring quarter and pitch an entire professional season. That, the thinking goes, will better help his development. He will then almost certainly return to Stanford — where he is ahead of things academically — in the fall, likely take two more quarters of classes, and return to baseball next spring.
Good to hear that McGeary is going to focus on a full season of development. I’m all for him pursuing his education, but there was a point where he needed to shift his focus to maximizing his development time and that was not going to happen with another missed spring/early summer. I figure the Nationals will target Hagerstown for his 2009 debut.
Categories: Players
Brian at 20 would McGeary be ahead of a person say coming out of a community college or more advanced. Inquiry minds got to know…sir…please.
At least he didn’t announce he’s 26 years old.
That is an interesting kid – he must be pretty bright. Isn’t he from Philip Andover or one of the great prep schools that send all the rich kids to the Ivy League? Hope he turns out well in a baseball sense.