THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT NICK

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Barring any surprises, junior shortstop Nick Loftin will likely be the only Baylor player taken in the trimmed-down, five-round Major League Baseball Draft that will be held June 10-11.
            "We see Nick in that first tier, obviously," Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said Monday during a Zoom media press conference. "I don't want to say in the first round, because you just don't know what's going to happen now that everything has changed. But, we do anticipate him going pretty high and being able to start a professional career at some point. After that, I think it's going to be a surprise to us. . . . I don't think in five rounds we're going to lose many more than Nick."
            Rumored for months, it was made official Friday when MLB announced it was reducing the draft from 40 rounds to five for this year. Next year, it's expected to increase to 20, but still half of the previous total.
            "Before, you knew there were going to be 40 rounds . . . but now it's completely changed," Rodriguez said. "I think the biggest thing is kids really need to do some soul-searching and re-evaluating 1, what their occupation might be. Because not everybody is going to get that opportunity anymore where you just go ahead and sign and you know you're going to be a professional athlete. Now, I think a lot of those opportunities are going to go by the wayside."

            SOMETHING ABOUT NICK: Most of the mock drafts have Loftin projected to go late in the first round, with prospects365.com predicting him to go to the Oakland A's with the 26^th overall pick. "In a deep class, one of the glaring weaknesses is a lack of shortstops who actually project to remain there. Loftin will," writes Mason McRae.
            A 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior from Corpus Christi, Texas, Loftin was a returning All-Big 12 first-team pick and Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year who has a .316 career average with 14 home runs and 92 RBI in 121 games.
            Rodriguez said his versatility to play multiple positions actually adds to Loftin's draft stock. Because of the defensive shifts that a lot of MLB teams now employ, "the traditional question of can he play shortstop at the next level is irrelevant," Rodriguez said. "But, I tell them, 'Absolutely he can. He's played at the highest level in college, why wouldn't he be able to play in minor league baseball as well?"
            The one knock on him has been his lack of pure power numbers, but Loftin's swing-and-miss ratio of 8 percent is "probably better than anybody else in the country, which is something that really piques (the scouts') interest."
            "The ability to throw a pitch and miss a bat, and the ability to swing a bat and not miss, are very good things for prospects going into the draft."
            If Loftin is taking in the first round, it will give Baylor three first-round picks in the last two years. Catcher Shea Langeliers and third baseman Davis Wendzel were both first-round selections a year ago.

            MANAGING THE ROSTER: With the NCAA granting all spring sports' athletes another year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic cutting short this season, allowing seniors the chance to come back, it has created some potential headaches for coaches.
            "The hard part is I'm going to have 26 freshman, that's unprecedented," Rodriguez said. "This is that one year when it's like a perfect storm, where everything is hitting at once, with the NCAA giving all the seniors an opportunity to come back and then Major League Baseball cutting their draft. We just have to adjust with what we can control. And then next year, when they have 20 rounds, we'll adjust accordingly with that."
            Among this year's seniors, catcher/first baseman Andy Thomas and pitchers Ryan Lekich, Hayden Kettler and Logan Freeman have all committed to returning next year, "and I think the others are just waiting to see."
            Having that kind of experience returning is "unbelievably valuable to our guys," Rodriguez said.
            "With the seniors we have coming back and how they go about their business and the success they've had . . . it's going to be so valuable (for the incoming players), just to be around, to be able to talk to them, help them understand what's expected and what to anticipate as the fall goes on."

            HUMBLING EXPERIENCE FOR MJ: Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan's brief stint with pro baseball in 1994 was featured in one of the episodes for the 10-part "Last Dance" documentary that aired Sunday night on ESPN.
            As a then-23-year-old infielder for the Boston Red Sox' Double-A affiliate in New Britain, Conn., Rodriguez got to witness that slice of history up close and personal.
            "The sheer amount of crowd around him was unbelievable. I don't know how he handled it," Rodriguez said of Jordan, who hit .202 with three homers and 51 RBI in his one season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons before returning to the Chicago Bulls the next year.
"Everywhere he went, you could not hide. Talk about being exposed in an uncomfortable element, when you're hitting roughly .200 and everybody knows who you are and where you are, and you're not having a ton of success. Can you imagine what that feels like and having to deal with that? You're literally going from the pinnacle of one sports world to another where you're just a guy."
            At a developmental time between 8 and 13 years old when most baseball prospects are learning "hand-eye coordination, depth perception, velocity estimation and trajectory, things like that," Rodriguez said, Jordan was "too busy shooting a basketball."
            "I'm sure it was a humbling experience for him, but his athleticism and his competitive nature wouldn't allow him to really fail," he said. "I tell you what, the fact that he could go out there, throw a uniform on and hit a couple home runs while he was doing it, that was pretty impressive."

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT NICK

Players Mentioned

Logan Freeman

Hayden Kettler

Shea Langeliers

Nick Loftin

Andy Thomas

Davis Wendzel

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