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Twins 1st-rounder on familiar path

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

Kyle Waldrop never played college baseball. He didn't need to.

Waldrop made up those years beforehand, heading into the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, in which the Minnesota Twins grabbed him in the first round with the 25th overall pick.

Now with the Fort Myers Miracle, Waldrop played plenty even before his teenage years in Knoxville, Tenn.

As an 11-year-old, Waldrop pitched for a 12-year-old team in the American Amateur Baseball Congress World Series in Puerto Rico.

As a 17-year-old, Waldrop's AAU team, the Knoxville Thunder, took second in the World Series played at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

As a 17- and 18-year-old, Waldrop's high school team, Farragut High, won back-to-back Class 3A Tennessee state championships.

So when the 6-foot-4, right-handed pitcher arrived to professional baseball as an 18-year-old, he did not arrive as wide-eyed as some of his peers.

"My high school coach, he was great in helping me out," Waldrop said of Tommy Pharr. "He was the pitching coach at Baylor University at one point. He's very knowledgeable about the game. The way he ran our high school program was like a college program."

Waldrop, who turns 21 on Oct. 27, was scheduled to start Saturday night at Hammond Stadium as the Fort Myers Miracle faced the Lakeland Tigers.

Waldrop joined the Miracle July 14. He did so as the 16th first-round draft pick by the Twins to make his way through Fort Myers.

"I'll read it in a magazine from time to time," Waldrop said of his draft status. "But I don't let it get to me. I feel the same just as anybody else in the locker room.

"You just go out there and try to perform. I don't try to put any extra pressure on myself."

Following the promotions of first-round draft pick Matt Garza and second-round pick Kevin Slowey during the first half of the season, the Miracle needed another capable arm.

Enter Waldrop, who has a 3-0 record and a 2.51 ERA with 17 strikeouts and eight walks in 321/3 innings of work.

"He's done a nice job for us," Miracle manager Kevin Boles said. "He has command of the strike zone for the most part."

Waldrop credited his parents, his high school coach and AAU coach Hal Bibee with helping him get to professional baseball.

Bibee, the Knoxville Thunder coach, said he enjoyed coaching Waldrop from ages 11 to 18.

"What he was able to do, was he was able to throw the ball where he wanted to," Bibee said. "He never overpowered anybody. But he's smart. He had a scholarship to Vanderbilt University, you know.

"His No. 2 pitch, from the beginning of time, was the change-up. We never had him try a curveball until he was 14. So he's always had a second pitch, and he's never had any arm trouble."

Although Waldrop struggled at times last season with a 6-11 record and a 4.98 ERA, he did compile 108 strikeouts and just 23 walks in 1512/3 innings. Waldrop played at low-Class A Beloit last season.

Bibee said he looks forward to watching Waldrop continue his development.

Said Bibee: "He's very mature, and that's what he wants to do play baseball."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICKS

Kyle Waldrop became the 16th first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins to play in a Fort Myers Miracle uniform.

Heres a look at the other 15:

Torii Hunter (1993): Outfielder on the big-league Twins roster.

Todd Walker (1994): Infielder for the San Diego Padres

Mark Redman (1995): Pitcher for the Kansas City Royals

Michael Cuddyer (1997): Outfielder for the Twins

Matthew LeCroy (1997): Catcher for the New Orleans Zephyrs, Class Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals

Ryan Mills (1998): Out of baseball

B.J. Garbe (1999): Retired as an outfielder for the Double-A Carolina Mudcats on May 20

Adam Johnson (2000): Pitcher; out of baseball after spending earlier part of this season with the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland As.

Joe Mauer (2001): Starting catcher for the Minnesota Twins

Denard Span (2002): Outfielder for Double-A New Britain

Matt Moses (2003): Third baseman at New Britain

Trevor Plouffe (2004): Infielder for the Miracle

Glen Perkins (2004): Pitcher at New Britain

Jay Rainville (2004): Pitcher for the Miracle (disabled list)

Matt Garza (2005): Pitcher for the Twins

PROMOTION COMMOTION
Noon today: Home doubleheader vs. Lakeland Tigers
5:05 p.m. Monday: Doubleheader as part of a four-game series against the Clearwater Threshers
7:05 p.m. Tuesday: Two-for-one draft beers; also NASCAR Night

Originally posted on August 20, 2006

Alternate routes

Pitchers go different ways to pros

No "By" Line
Fort Myers News Press

They took different roads to being drafted in the first round by Major League Baseball teams. Monday night at Hammond Stadium, those roads converged.

Andrew Miller, a left-handed pitcher who spent eight games in the big leagues with the Detroit Tigers at the end of last season, started for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Detroit drafted him in the first round with the sixth overall pick in last years draft out of the University of North Carolina.

Kyle Waldrop, a right-handed pitcher who has spent the past three seasons in the lower minor-league levels, started for the Fort Myers Miracle.

The Minnesota Twins drafted Waldrop with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2004 draft out of Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tenn.

Its a great matchup, Twins minor-league pitching coordinator Rick Knapp said before the game.

Knapp was right.

With the two first-round picks facing each other, the Miracle prevailed with a 1-0 victory as Waldrop won the pitchers duel.

You have a little more adrenaline going, thats for sure, said Waldrop, who struck out six, walked two and gave up four hits but no runs in 5fi innings of work.

Meanwhile, Miller struck out six and gave up just three hits and no earned runs in eight innings.

Every time out there, my goal is to win, Miller said. Its not just to strike out a bunch of guys. Sometimes you just have to credit the other pitcher.

Following two infield errors in the third inning, Miracle third baseman Toby Gardenhire scored on an RBI-single by right fielder Dwayne White.

Its two No. 1 picks, and its always good to see how two No. 1s do, Lakeland manager Kevin Bradshaw said of the pitching matchup. Miller had a lot of success last year. Hes on the fast track.

The 6-foot-6, 210-pound Miller, 21, posted a 10-3 record, a 1.79 ERA and 136 strikeouts as a senior at Gainesville Buchholz High in 2003. He decided not to sign with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, despite being a third-round draft pick.

Its hard to turn down money, but going to the University of North Carolina just seemed like an opportunity I couldnt pass up, Miller said. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but looking back, I still think its one of the best decisions I ever made.

At North Carolina last season, Miller won the Roger Clemens Award as college baseballs top pitcher, finishing with a 13-2 record and 2.48 ERA, with 133 strikeouts, in 20 games as a junior.

Theres lots of good things to say about him, said Lakeland pitching coach Joe Coleman, a Cape Coral resident during the offseason and the father of Mariner High graduate and Florida Gulf Coast University sophomore pitcher/shortstop Casey Coleman.

In 10fi innings for Detroit last September, Miller struck out six batters and walked 10. He allowed opponents a .205 batting average.

Joe Coleman said there are many reasons for Miller to start in Class A-ball rather than Double-A or Triple-A, despite being on the major-league roster last season.

This is his first full year, Coleman said. They want him to go out and get his feet on the ground. Our Double-A team is in Erie, Pa., where theres snow and sleet, and everything else. Down here, hes guaranteed to get more innings.

This is a competitive league. Once he gets some experience, thats when he can starting moving up through the system. Hes coming from a very successful college program in a very successful conference.

The biggest adjustment for Miller, Coleman said, would be playing a 140-game schedule that requires working every day instead of the 50-game schedule in college.

Waldrop, 21, already has had three seasons to make that adjustment. He went 3-2, with a 3.57 ERA, in seven starts last season for the Miracle. Before that, he went 6-3, with a 3.85 ERA, in 18 starts for low-Class A Beloit, Wis.

Waldrop throws 88 to 90 (mile per hour) a lot, Knapp said. At some point, once he puts on that layer of maturity like most guys do, hell be in the low-to-mid 90s range.

Waldrop credited the defense behind him for getting Mondays win.

Like Miller, Waldrop could have played at a high-level Division I school in Vanderbilt. Unlike Miller, Waldrop decided to sign with the Twins out of high school rather than attend college.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Waldrop called it one of the toughest decisions he has had to make.

I personally didnt expect the first round to happen, Waldrop said. On the day of the draft, I thought I was going to go to Vanderbilt.

The past three years in the minor leagues have prepared Waldrop for this one.

I definitely feel prepared for what this season is going to bring, he said. Ive been through the grind before.

Miracle manager Kevin Boles said he enjoyed watching the two pitchers perform and had high praise for both of them. He added that both young men made the right decisions in high school regarding their futures. After all, they met on the same stage Monday.

His experience may be different, Boles said of Miller. But hes seen the pro lifestyle. He knows what he has to do. Miller is very impressive.

Waldrop pitched great. He did outstanding. It was a well-played game by both sides.

Originally posted on April 17, 2007

He has autographs to sign. Many, many of them.

I did get a thank you note from Ed for helping him get Ozzie's graph just before he left. That's not why I called him over, but..hey, whatever works out.