BRADY IN A WIN-WIN SITUATION WITH BALTIMORE ORIOLES

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Kevin Brady is just thankful to be drafted, no matter where it was.

All spring he was told he was a third-round talent by Major League Baseball scouts, but the right-handed Gaithersburg pitcher still didn’t know where he would be selected this past weekend.

The night before the draft, the Red Sox called his home and said they would draft him in the third round if he would accept their signing bonus. Brady and his family decided to spurn their offer, instead waiting for something better with the possibility of always going to Clemson, where Brady has accepted a 60 percent scholarship offer.

So Brady waited, and waited, and waited some more until finally he wasn’t even paying attention.

He was riding in the backseat of a car when he got a text message from another incoming Clemson freshman, Brad Miller, which read, “You just got drafted by the Orioles.”

It was the 44th round, but finally, Brady was drafted 1,136th overall by the Baltimore Orioles.

“It was all pretty confusing,” Brady said. “Even though it wasn’t a real high round, just to be selected is a great accomplishment, especially at age 17. It was just a great feeling, especially being drafted by the hometown team. That’s a lot of fun and real exciting.”

Gaithersburg coach Jeffrey Rabberman said the reason why Brady fell all the way to the 44th round came down to how likely it was that he would sign a contract. The feeling is that word got out that Brady spurned the Red Sox and teams were scared that Brady already intended on going to Clemson instead of signing and reporting to Minor League camp.

“When you draft somebody in the first couple rounds, you want to know they can sign him,” Rabberman said. “But he’s in a win-win situation. He will be very successful in whatever he does. I wish he had a couple more years of high school left in him.”

As of now, Brady said he is still planning on going to Clemson. The Baltimore Orioles are going to do what’s called a draft-and-follow in which they will monitor his progress during the summer and possibly make another contract offer by the end of the summer, before Brady heads to Clemson for at least three years.

Brady is currently pitching for the Maryland Orioles, coached by Baltimore Orioles scout Dean Albany. He is focusing only on his pitching now, instead of splitting his time hitting, as he did in high school.

Brady, who was named Montgomery County’s Player of the Year and Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year, went 7-0 with a 0.29 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings pitched this season. He is trying to increase the velocity of his fastball after it slipped from a consistent 92 or 93 mph to 89-90 this spring.

“I have no clue why that happened,” Brady said, adding that his arm felt fine. “I guess it depends on how I do over the summer and how the Orioles think I’ve done over the summer. Both ways, my ultimate goal is to get to the Majors.”