While standing on top of a
red ladder, about 75-feet long, Jaden
Dillon wipes some sweat from his forehead as he screws in about two dozen
small signs into a marquis in front of a shopping center. It's his summer job, working for his father's sign
company, Sign Doctors, which he has worked at since he was 15 years old. Dillon
uses the money he makes to pay for his lessons and other
baseball-related expenses.
He hopes he won't be doing
it much longer. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Day 2 and 3 of the Major
League Baseball draft, Dillon, a former Bridge City baseball player who
played in college at McNeese State and Texas A&M-Kingsville, will eagerly
await a phone call from a major league baseball team selecting him in the draft.
"I've had scouts at every single game this year
watching me throw, so I'm pretty confident," Dillon said. "All I want is
a chance."
With a mid-90s fastball and a curveball and changeup
he can both throw for outs, Dillon, an all-conference performer at Texas
A&M-Kingsville with an 8-3 record and a 2.56 earned run average, is almost
certain to be drafted, according to Sam Moore, a local baseball instructor. Because of his 5-foot-11
frame, short for a power pitcher, Dillon said he has been compared to Roy
Oswalt.
"If they don't take a chance, they'll regret they
missed him," Moore said. "He can throw three pitches, be a starter or a
reliever, he throws hard. He has everything teams are looking for."
No comments:
Post a Comment