Sports

Thursday, Jun. 11, 2009

Five Cal Poly baseball players picked on Day 2 of MLB draft

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With little to do but study for finals and brood about the draft, Jared Eskew and Eric Massingham took to the bullpen.

Playing catch to stay sharp at Baggett Stadium on Wednesday, the two senior Cal Poly pitchers remained tense even after their cell phones started buzzing with the news they’d each been selected by Major League Baseball organizations before the 30th round.

And they weren’t the only ones. Junior second baseman Adam Buschini spent the day shopping for baseball caps after the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the fourth round. He couldn’t narrow it down to one and ended up buying three different styles.

By the end of the day, junior shortstop Kyle Smith and junior pitcher Kevin Castner had also been taken, and prized high school recruit Robbie Erlin had been quoted in his local newspaper saying he was turning down the Mustangs’ scholarship offer to turn pro after going in the third round to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Buschini, who set a new Cal Poly single-season Division I batting record this season, rocketed up draft boards after showing he was back to full strength following elbow surgery.

He has the chance to return to the Mustangs, but — wearing the solid red Phillies offering during interviews at Baggett on Wednesday — Buschini seemed all but certain he was packing up for a minor league assignment in the next few weeks.

“I’m ready to go play pro ball,” said Buschini, who batted .422 with 11 home runs and 61 RBI and was 13 for 15 on stolen base attempts this season. “I had a good time at Cal Poly. I’ve been here four years.”

A junior in terms of eligibility, Buschini would have been a senior if not for the medical redshirt he got in 2008 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

To him, the decision may be easy.

Smith, who batted .322 with five home runs and 41 RBI, was taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 14th round. He has an option to return, and Mustangs coach Larry Lee mentioned Smith as a pivotal loss should he decide to turn pro.

Castner had a 7.02 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 20 1 /3 innings pitched. He went in the 28th round to the Texas Rangers, the team who picked him in the 10th round last year but balked at him when a minor elbow issue arose over the summer.

Both Castner and Smith could return and up their draft stock for next season. Neither were on hand to discus the pros and cons Wednesday, but Buschini said it was a very personal decision.

“Cal Poly’s a great place,” Buschini said. “I wouldn’t mind coming back, but pro ball’s a good opportunity, too. Either way, you get another year of schooling or you go out and play pro ball.”

The key is being able to gauge how mentally prepared a player is, Buschini said.

Erlin seems to be.

The Scotts Valley High lefty with a low-90s fastball and a big-breaking curve told the Santa Cruz Sentinel he’d had his heart set on turning pro.

Though his deal with the Rangers has not been finalized, Erlin would be the second fireballing left-hander after former Cabrillo High star Danny Duffy to pick the minor leagues over Cal Poly.

The college seniors, Massingham and Eskew, are out of eligibility, which is why their potential draft positions had them full of angst.

Even after Massingham’s phone started ringing, he had so many text messages, he couldn’t even check his voicemail to see what team had drafted him. He found it was the Phillies, his dad’s hometown team, in the 25th round, and he eventually stole away to nab the Philly cap with the blue bill.

Eskew decided to finish off his bullpen session before checking his status.

“It had to be one of the worst bullpens I’d ever thrown,” Eskew said. “I tried to focus on the pitches, but my mind was elsewhere as soon as I got the phone call.”

After being drafted in the 47th round by the Baltimore Orioles a season ago, the left-handed reliever moved up to the 29th round and was taken by the Florida Marlins.

A very highly touted high school recruit, Massingham expected to be drafted at least once or twice before his senior season.

But because he was determined to go to college coming out of high school, teams laid off, and his up and down career as a starter in college didn’t get him picked as a draft-eligible junior.

Not until he had a renaissance as the Mustangs closer this season, posting a 7-3 record, a 3.07 ERA, six saves and helping the team reach its first NCAA Division I regional, did he regain back some of his prospect status.

“It was interesting and definitely a career that I didn’t expect,” Massingham said, “because when you come in and there’s this kind of hype, you expect to only be here three years, get drafted after your third year.

“I never really envisioned staying four years, and I’m glad I did. Because I got to not only experience four years of college, but I got to be part of the first regional team, and that in itself was worth staying. I loved that.”