Patience pays off for former Macon East pitcher as Baker goes to Phillies in MLB Draft
By TIM GAYLE
Three years ago, Macon East Academy baseball star Drew Baker elected to go the junior college route in an effort to enhance his chances of earning a Power Five scholarship and perhaps a draft pick in the Major League Baseball draft.
He earned both after his freshman year at Chipola College, receiving a scholarship offer from Auburn and getting drafted by the Dodgers in the 16th round.
After a brief stint in a COVID-19 year at Auburn, he returned to Chipola in 2021 in hopes of raising his draft stock.
On Tuesday, he was rewarded by the Philadelphia Phillies, who made him the 325th pick in the 11th round of the 2021 draft.
“I definitely knew it was an opportunity that could arise,” Baker said. “I was just sitting there watching, but had an idea that maybe it could happen. I’m fired up. I’ll have to weigh my options.”
His options include accepting the Phillies’ offer or attending South Carolina on a baseball scholarship this fall. After his rocky stint at Auburn -- he had a 9.53 earned run average in 5.2 innings -- he may be thinking more about professional baseball this time around, but Baker insisted he would keep an open mind.
“South Carolina is a great program and I’ve been signed there for a while,” Baker said. “I’ll just have to weigh it out. I’m going to pray about it, talk to my family about it and whatever I think is the best route for me I’ll take it. Right now, I’m just enjoying the moment. I’ll worry about that later.”
For many teams, having four players taken in the MLB draft is special. At Chipola, Baker was the first of four pitchers selected from Jeff Johnson’s team on Tuesday, joining Andrew Moore (a 14thround selection of the Mariners), Luis Guerrero (a 17th round pick of the Red Sox) and Jaylen Nowlin (a 19th round pick of the Twins).
“We had a good pitching staff this year,” Baker said, “and I couldn’t be prouder of those guys. Jaylen Nowlin was one of them that got picked and he was on my CAABL team up here and he’s the definition of a hard worker. As far as Chipola goes, Jeff does a great job with his guys. He’s going to give it to you straight and I am forever in debt to that man. He gave me a chance three years ago coming out of high school. He saw something in me.”
This past season, Baker was 7-2 with a 3.45 earned run average, recording 92 strikeouts in 15 appearances. He was the first of the Chipola players taken, largely on the strength of a fastball clocked in the low 90s.
“I’ve only been pitching about four years now,” he said. “I was a catcher all through high school and never really thought pitching would be this big (in my future). It’s just working every day. I’m very blessed to be playing this game and to be healthy and play the game that I love.”
He had been in touch with representatives of the Phillies over the course of the year, but it still did little to prepare him for the experience on Tuesday.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I definitely had a feeling it might happen but you can expect it to be coming and that feeling of hearing your name called and knowing it actually happened, nothing can describe that. I was happy and fired up and shocked in a sense.”