Todd Golden
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana State’s one and only first round Major League Baseball draft pick occurred 32 years ago when catcher Bill Hayes was selected 13th overall by the Chicago Cubs.
Rose-Hulman has never had a player taken in any round of the draft at all.
With ISU pitcher Jake Petricka being discussed as a first-round draft pick and with Rose-Hulman pitcher Derek Eitel a lock to be taken in the MLB Draft, it could be a historic day for both of Terre Haute’s collegiate baseball programs when the MLB Draft begins tonight.
The first round of the MLB Draft begins at 7 p.m. tonight and will be televised on MLB Network. Rounds 2-30 take place Tuesday and rounds 31-50 are Wednesday.
Petricka’s name could be called tonight. Petricka was chosen in the 34th round in 2009 by the New York Yankees, but he elected to return to ISU to play his junior season this year and his stock has zoomed along with his arm velocity.
A year ago, Petricka was throwing in the low 90s. Throughout the Sycamores’ season, Petricka has consistently been clocked in the 97-98 mile per hour range. One Major League scout clocked Petricka at 100 during an ISU game at The Citadel in April.
“I hit the weight room a lot this season and got stronger as a whole. I cleaned up my mechanics and made my delivery smoother. I finally got my curveball into the groove I wanted it in and never let myself get out of it,” said Petricka on Sunday from his home in Minnesota.
Petricka (7-4, 4.11, 113 strikeouts at ISU) is currently ranked as the 40th best prospect in the nation by Baseball America, a position that would have him picked as a supplemental “sandwich” pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds, the round set aside as a compensatory round for teams that lost free agents. Terre Haute’s Josh Phegley was a compensatory pick last year by the Chicago White Sox.
However, given his position and velocity, ISU observers are hoping Petricka will be taken in the first round proper.
“I don’t get too excited. I’ve had league MVPs I thought would go early go in later rounds, but I think Jake is a first-rounder, a supplemental pick or no later than a second-rounder,” ISU coach Rick Heller said. “My opinion is that he’s a first-rounder. Enough teams have seen him executing at his best for him to slip past anyone.”
Petricka has had one formal workout with Seattle, but given how much attention he got from scouts during ISU’s season -- there were 15 to 20 scouts on hand in Wichita, Kan. for his Missouri Valley Conference start -- the conventional wisdom is that Petricka didn’t need to do many formal workouts.
Petricka has tried to scout the scouts to try and get a consensus of what the book is on him.
“The main thing I’ve read is they’d like to see the changeup. I haven’t has as much of a need to throw it this season. I only threw it a lot against Missouri State [April 30] because they had a lot of lefties. I threw mostly fastballs and curveballs this season, but the changeup is still there,” Petricka said.
Eitel, a two-sport star at Rose-Hulman and a native of Marshall, Ill., should be picked in the top half of the draft. Eitel (6-2, 3.74, 92 strikeouts at RHIT) is also keeping the book on himself.
“They really like my sinker-slider combination. I’m in the low to mid 90s with the sinker, there’s good action on it and good tilt. The slider is thrown from the same arm slot. Against wooden bats, I should be able to ground balls and quick outs. I have a fluid delivery, but I need to get stronger,” said Eitel, who has worked out with St. Louis.
Though Eitel is considered old by MLB Draft standards, he’s a graybeard at 22, Eitel doesn’t have very much mileage on his arm because he didn’t participate in as many off-season baseball activities when he was younger as other prospects typically do.
“I feel like I’m a 22-year-old with the arm of an 18-year old. I didn’t do all the travel ball, I wasn’t primarily a pitcher until high school. The amount of innings on my arm is minimal,” Eitel said. “Scouts like my athletic ability. They don’t like me playing football while I’m doing it, but they liked it once I didn’t get hurt. The combination with football has strengthened arm and its helped my leadership skills too.”
Rose-Hulman coach Jeff Jenkins said the biggest adjustment for Eitel is in how he’s perceived.
“The first thing that stuck out, and one thing Derek has had to get used to, is that they don’t like at him as a power pitcher. He throws 91 to 92 and is consistently 89-90. They look at him as a good athlete on the mound,” Jenkins said. “Scouts feel like he’s got a lot of upside. With the chance to dedicate himself to baseball, I think he can take his game to another level.”
Eitel is humble about his place in Rose-Hulman’s history. The Engineers’ best-known pro players all played in the pre-draft era and there hasn’t been a Rose-Hulman player in the bigs since Art Nehf’s final season in 1929.
“I haven’t wrapped my mind around [being the first RHIT pick] yet. There’s been a lot of athletes who have gone through RHIT, I’d like to think I stack up after baseball and football. Everything went right for me and I’ve worked hard,” Eitel said.
Among others of local interest, Heller believes ISU center fielder Ryan Strausborger could be drafted in the first half of the draft. ISU pitcher Joe Rodriguez is a candidate to be drafted later. There are no area high school players who are expected to be picked this year.
