Devin Malone”s maturation is accelerating.
The former West Lowndes High School standout has grown so much as a baseball player he soon might be a professional.
Malone and prospects from throughout the country will get that chance to become pros starting at 6 p.m. today when the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft begins in Secaucus, N.J.
Round 1 of the three-day event will be today, followed by rounds 2-30 beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Rounds 31-50 will be Wednesday.
Malone, who recently completed his sophomore season at Coahoma Community College, recently attended workouts for the Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound right-handed pitcher added 15 pounds this season and attracted attention by throwing in the low 90s this season. He said he will pay close attention to the draft after representatives from the Tigers and Marlins told him they might take a chance on him and that he might be a “late-round pick.”
“I am leaning toward college so I can go ahead and work harder to get a top-round draft pick,” Malone said Sunday night after pitching 1 1/3 innings in a Texas Collegiate League game for the Alexandria (La.) Aces. He struck out three and walked one.
Malone arrived to play for the Aces ready to sign a scholarship offer to attend the University of Louisiana at Monroe, but he said representatives from the school weren”t in town to help him complete the signing. He said the signing could happen later this week.
But Malone also said things could change if he is selected earlier in the draft. He said he didn”t know where he would have to be picked to give turning pro serious thought, but he is eager to build on the progress he made this season.
“I have grown a lot and matured a lot,” said Malone, who arrived at Coahoma C.C. throwing in the mid to low 80s. “I have gotten a lot stronger. (Coahoma C.C. baseball coach) Chris Fair had us on a good strength and conditioning and long tossing program.”
Malone acknowledged he never imagined his baseball career would have the potential to take off like it could. He was a football, basketball, and baseball standout while at West Lowndes High and never thought about specializing in one sport. Now that he has focused on baseball for the past two seasons, he is reaping the rewards and making people take a second look. He said he had scholarship offers from Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State, Texas Southern, South Alabama, and Alcorn State but likely will sign with Louisiana-Monroe because he likes the fact the school plays in the highly competitive Sun Belt Conference, one of the nation”s top baseball conferences.
“(West Lowndes baseball) coach (Todd) Stanley and coach Fair kept telling me to be patient and something would come my way,” Malone said. “It helped my game a lot that coach Fair gave me the opportunity and a chance to go and pitch every five days.”
Fair was out of town Saturday and didn”t have complete statistics for Malone from this season, but he said he struck out 69 in 47 innings and had a 3.97 ERA.
“He had a great season. Devin is going to get drafted,” Fair said. “He also doubled as our starting center fielder for most of the season. He came to me as a center fielder. He is a great kid. He is an awesome kid. He works hard and is very coachable. I saw him develop from a regular high school kid who really nobody had much interest in to a draft choice.”
Fair also said 6-4, 220-pound pitcher Montreal Robertson also could get drafted. He feels Robertson could be selected sometime early Tuesday. He is unsure about where Malone might fall, but he thinks Malone will stay in school and continue his maturation in hopes of improving his stock for the 2012 draft.
“Devin is one of best athletes in the state,” Fair said. “Him playing three sports in high school helped him tremendously. He has a fresh arm and didn”t pitch much for coach Stanley. He played center field for me last year, and is a really good athlete and a really good position player.
“He is 19 years old, and if he goes to school for another year I think he will be a top-five round guy. I had no idea (he would mature like he did). I am thankful nobody found him.”
Stanley echoed Fair”s assessment. He said he has remained in contact with Malone and feels Malone”s potential will help him hold the interest of major league scouts.
“I am proud of him for sticking it out and getting better,” Stanley said. “He is tall, lanky, and has a good, live arm. He is just going to get better and better.”
Malone isn”t sure where he will end up, but he is excited about the prospects and is content to sit back and watch how things play out this week and play for the Aces into August if that”s the best decision to make.
“We”ll see what happens,” Malone said.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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