Things don’t always go the way you expect. For instance, I didn’t expect to be writing about Towson University baseball, much less for free, but here we are.
I came into this knowing nothing about the Towson baseball program. One of the first things I learned was that they made a coaching change after last season, the first in thirty years. New head coach Matt Tyner was a former college star (1980 Player of the Year at the University of Miami after joining the team as a walk-on) and legitimate minor league prospect (31 homers at Class-A in 1981) in the early 1980’s, before an elbow injury cut his career short. His road to Towson was long and winding, from childhood dreams of being President or a major league baseball player, to being drafted by a team he never expected, to a bus crash on a minor league road trip that may have contributed to his career ending injuries.
It seems that Tyner has embraced the unexpected twists and setbacks that life can deal. As he was quoted in the story I linked to above, “I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I played at the University of Miami, that I played at four different stops in my minor league career, that I coached at four different universities, that I got back into coaching at 48 years old, because I got a little bit of this and a little bit of that…You put it all in that melting pot and that’s what you get – a finished product with a lot of experience.” It’s an attitude that will serve him well at Towson. The school nearly eliminated the baseball program in 2013, saving it only after a substantial donation from a former player’s parents, and currently funds only 6.5 baseball scholarships annually (down from 11 offered prior to 2013).
Hopefully, the new coach’s experience will help the players adjust, too. While most players on the Towson roster have little shot at a professional playing career, Richie Palacios does. The Tigers star shortstop reached out to his new coach shortly after he was hired. He probably liked what he heard. Tyner served as University of Richmond’s hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for the previous four years, a period of sustained offensive success for the Spiders. His philosophy, as you would expect, is one of versatility.
“I’m not a cookie-cutter guy,” Tyner said. “From a power perspective, if we’ve got power on the team, I’m going to work with it and try to get it better. If all we are [is] contact [hitters], that’s fine with me, too. We’ll lead the country in doubles. And if that’s not what we got, then we’ll figure out how to steal bases and figure out how to walk.”
At the major league level, the managers’ job is largely dealing with personalities and the big picture goals of a 162 game season, at least outside of in-game decision making. But at the college level, it still involves a lot of teaching, of fundamentals, skills, and teamwork. For Matt Tyner, graduating a player like Palacios to a professional career would be a feather in the hat (and a likely boon to recruiting), but to be successful he also has to build a team composed primarily of players who, well, won’t be playing in a few years. It can’t be an easy set of responsibilities to balance.
For a player like Richie Palacios, having the right coach, right now, is important. He’s proven he has talent. From everything I’ve seen and read so far, he seems to be a hard worker. A coach who specializes in offense, in building on the foundations of a player’s strengths, could be key for him. A coach who can manage expectations and provide guidance through baseball’s eventual slumps could be even better. One who has been within dreaming distance of the big leagues, who can teach him not to take success for granted, who is coming into a difficult new job with fire and enthusiasm? It’s hard to think this isn’t an ideal match.
Expectations are probably low for Tyner and the Tigers (hey, that’s a good band name!) this season. That’s probably a good thing. For me, I’m curious to see how this new coach’s story and experience translate to his new team. I expect them to be resilient. I expect a few players, at least, to improve offensively as the season progresses. If Palacios experiences any significant improvement, he could find himself drafted earlier than anyone expected. The first round is unlikely, but the second is not out of the question, certainly not the third. I expect Palacios to go sometime on Day 2 of the draft.
The Cubs have the 24th, 63rd, and 76th picks in the upcoming draft, as well as another after the second round when (if?) Jake Arrieta signs with another team. Then another around pick #98, then the 24th pick in each round from 4-40. After leaning heavily towards pitchers the last couple of years, I think they could take a more balanced approach this time. A high quality college bat at a premium position, say shortstop, sounds like a good possibility with one of those five picks in the top 100.
Do I expect the Cubs to draft Richie Palacios? Of course not. MLB drafts are nearly impossible to predict past the first 10-15 picks. And expectations are slippery things. But, I have to admit, it would be a pretty great ending to this first real journey I’ve taken into college baseball. If it happens, you can expect me to be thrilled.
