Red Sox fit fine

Matt Milroy

(Beacon News File)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Matt Milroy admitted he watched 1,067 consecutive picks of Major League Baseball's three-day amateur draft before finally taking a breather. He was able to do so when the Boston Red Sox called him to tell him his name would pop up on the computer at No. 1,068, in the 35th round Thursday afternoon.

This after his dad, Tim, had hoped to come up with some things for his son to do to avoid such stagnation.

"It is funny," Matt said afterward. "I was anxious, real anxious the first couple days when you see all those picks go by and you don't get picked. It's fun because there are not many people that get to do this.

"It was kind of cool. I was anxious and (it was) definitely very relieving when it happened."

The Red Sox had been visible throughout Milroy's senior season with the Cadets, and they called him to ask some final questions prior to the start of the Thursday sessions, which was rounds 31 to 50. Shortly thereafter Boston made the 18-year-old right-hander one of their 50 picks.

Milroy, who hit .466 in his two-year varsity career at Marmion, said the Red Sox project him as a pitcher. But they probably will not offer a contract until early August after following his summer season with the Vee Pak Hawks of the Chicago Suburban Baseball League.

Milroy has already signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Illinois next year.

"I think if you looked at some of the kids who got drafted late from Illinois, a lot of them had big school scholarships because those kids have a little more leverage than kids from junior colleges or things like that," Milroy said. "If they don't offer anything, then I'm going to college at Illinois, so it's no big deal. But I'm definitely going to be open to it and see what happens."

As of now, Milroy does not have an adviser and the Red Sox will deal directly with the family.

"I think maybe some of the higher-end scouts will come watch and get to know my family and get on more of a personal basis," he said. "They said they'll watch me my next couple starts."

Playing under pressure is nothing new for Milroy, as the entire summer before his senior year was geared toward landing a college scholarship. Then once this spring began, there were major league scouts in attendance and the expectation of success at Marmion. "I don't think it really changed my approach," he said. "I don't think any of the recruiting changed my approach. I've still got to go out there and get outs and compete and get hits and stuff like that. I'll just try to not let it get to my head and just go out and play." MLB Draft