A late shocker - Slate signs with Phillies!
Kyle Slate, a 2007 Christian Brothers Academy graduate and the top high school baseball pitcher in the Shore Conference last season when he went 11-1, told me this morning he has signed with the Philadelphia
Phillies.
As a life long Phillies fan I know I'm happy!!!
Ok..back to the news portion ...
""I think I surprised everybody with this one,'' Slate said. ""I think everyone is going to be in shock.''
Slate, a 37th round selection of Philadelphia in the June Major League Player Draft,
said he made the decision very late Wednesday night. Wednesday was the final day for big
league teams to sign players they had selected in June. Slate, 18, said he received an $80,000
signing bonus plus another $80,000 to be used for college. Slate had signed last fall with the
University of Maine.
The right-hander was one of three 2007 Shore Conference players drafted in June. The
others, Anthony Ranaudo of St. Rose and J.C. Menna of Red Bank Catholic, opted to accept
collegiate scholarship offers from Louisiana State and James Madison, respectively.
On an earlier blog (which I have since altered) Slate had seemingly rejected the Phillies offer, but changed his mind literally at the 11th hour.
""It was the craziest night of my life,'' said Slate. ""It came down to the last minute.
""I spoke to pretty much everybody that's important in my life between 11 and 11:30 (Wednesday night). Everybody told me that this is a great opportunity.''
Under baseball rules Slate would have been eligible for the draft again after three years at Maine but decided not to to wait.
""Who knows, you're only going to get one shot to actually pursue your dream,'' he said. ""I pretty much called my agent and told him at 11:20 last night I want to be a Philadelphia Phillie.''
I just spoke with Gene Schall, Phillies area scouting boss. He told me Kyle will be on a plane to Clearwater, Fla. Friday to spend the end of the season with the Gulf Coast Rookie League Phillies to at least get some bullpen work in.
After that Schall said the Phillies may send him to Instructional League in Clearwater, Fla. in October, and then probably on to spring training in 2008 andwill likely eventually start him in 2008 in the Gulf Coast League.
""We look for big physical pitchers that have projectability,'' Schall said. ""You look at Kyle, he's 6-5, 200 pounds, and that body is only going to get bigger and stronger.''
Slate on Monday threw in front of 15-20 Philadelphia scouts from all over the United States at Citizens Bank Park.
""They told me I threw 88-89 the whole time, about 25 pitches, with good off speed,'' Slate said. ""It was pretty intense, the most intense thing I've done in my entire life.''
Slate said he grew up a Yankees fan. "'I'm a Phillies fan now,'' he said.
In his development, Slate could one day pitch for the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Phillies low Class A affiliate.
Slate said he hoped to make it to the major leagues by the time he's 23-24 years old. ""If I develop into the pitcher I want to become, mature a lot more on the mound,'' he said.
Phillies.
As a life long Phillies fan I know I'm happy!!!
Ok..back to the news portion ...
""I think I surprised everybody with this one,'' Slate said. ""I think everyone is going to be in shock.''
Slate, a 37th round selection of Philadelphia in the June Major League Player Draft,
said he made the decision very late Wednesday night. Wednesday was the final day for big
league teams to sign players they had selected in June. Slate, 18, said he received an $80,000
signing bonus plus another $80,000 to be used for college. Slate had signed last fall with the
University of Maine.
The right-hander was one of three 2007 Shore Conference players drafted in June. The
others, Anthony Ranaudo of St. Rose and J.C. Menna of Red Bank Catholic, opted to accept
collegiate scholarship offers from Louisiana State and James Madison, respectively.
On an earlier blog (which I have since altered) Slate had seemingly rejected the Phillies offer, but changed his mind literally at the 11th hour.
""It was the craziest night of my life,'' said Slate. ""It came down to the last minute.
""I spoke to pretty much everybody that's important in my life between 11 and 11:30 (Wednesday night). Everybody told me that this is a great opportunity.''
Under baseball rules Slate would have been eligible for the draft again after three years at Maine but decided not to to wait.
""Who knows, you're only going to get one shot to actually pursue your dream,'' he said. ""I pretty much called my agent and told him at 11:20 last night I want to be a Philadelphia Phillie.''
I just spoke with Gene Schall, Phillies area scouting boss. He told me Kyle will be on a plane to Clearwater, Fla. Friday to spend the end of the season with the Gulf Coast Rookie League Phillies to at least get some bullpen work in.
After that Schall said the Phillies may send him to Instructional League in Clearwater, Fla. in October, and then probably on to spring training in 2008 andwill likely eventually start him in 2008 in the Gulf Coast League.
""We look for big physical pitchers that have projectability,'' Schall said. ""You look at Kyle, he's 6-5, 200 pounds, and that body is only going to get bigger and stronger.''
Slate on Monday threw in front of 15-20 Philadelphia scouts from all over the United States at Citizens Bank Park.
""They told me I threw 88-89 the whole time, about 25 pitches, with good off speed,'' Slate said. ""It was pretty intense, the most intense thing I've done in my entire life.''
Slate said he grew up a Yankees fan. "'I'm a Phillies fan now,'' he said.
In his development, Slate could one day pitch for the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Phillies low Class A affiliate.
Slate said he hoped to make it to the major leagues by the time he's 23-24 years old. ""If I develop into the pitcher I want to become, mature a lot more on the mound,'' he said.
posted by Tony Graham at 8:09 AM
8 Comments:
Congratulations Kyle! Best of luck on your quest to make it to the show.
WAY TO GO KYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of us in WV are very proud of you.We can't wait to see you in the majors!
I kept up with slate for 6 innings. It was 0-0 until cba started figuring out my curveball. Slate beat me 3-0, cba scored 3 runs in the 7th inning. I can't belive i pitched against and was on the same traveling team as a kid that signed with a major league baseball team. That's awesome.
To last anon: Don't hide on us ..identify yourself in this one..you certainly had a nice effort against him..
I believe I know who you are and it goes without saying you have nothing to be ashamed of..you didn't need to be anonymous ..
Am thinking off the top of my head (I am home, my stats are`at work) it may have been a game I covered at Midd North ..
OK..I think I found the game...
CBA 3, Middletown North 0. _ CBA senior right-hander Kyle Slate (3-0) throws a four-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks. Slate, who no-hit Freehold Township earlier this season, had a perfect game through four innings. Two of the four hits he allowed with dribblers down the third base line, including the Lions' first hit.
The Colts broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Scott Micallef, Henry Rinkewich and a sacrifice fly by Anthony Cirillo. Slate had a perfect game broken up when Sean Byrnes led off the bottom of the fifth with an infield hit on a dribbler down the third base line. Jim Trancucci then singled to left. Middletown North had runners at first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, but did not score.
Middletown North senior right-hander Kevin Englebrecht (1-1) took the loss.
Kevin..you pitched well....
Hey, at least Kevin was showing some character by remaining anonymous. Hopefully he'll be pitching somewhere at the collegiate level in the Spring.
I think Slate made the right move. He'll get better coaching and face better comp than he would at Maine. While the Black Bears were a solid program back in the '80s, the America East just isn't a place to foster young talent. Plus he still get's the cash for school later on.....and I'm a Phils phan....
Yup Yup, I must say you guys know your high school baseball. Thanks for doing this Tony, you really made it fun for, our whole team would check this site everyday of the baseball season, made us feel cool. Good Luck Slate
Thanks for the nice words..it's fun for me, too.
I spoke with Ryan Kalish the other day when he talked with Matt Manley for the story Matt wrote in the Press.
Hopefully Ryan will be back 100 percent soon....that's what he anticipates.. I believe he said he'll be re-habbing locally this off season ....
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