Every diligent baseball fan was focused on Washington National Stephen Strasburg’s seven-inning, four-hit, 14-strikeout Major League debut on Jun. 8, 2010. After all, it was a big deal, especially in the District.
But pardon former Georgetown starting pitcher and 2010 graduate Tim Adleman and rising senior catcher Erick Fernandez for having other baseball thoughts on their minds that night.
After all, it’s not every day one gets drafted to play major league baseball.
“It was definitely really cool,” Adleman said of being drafted. “It was my dream come true. I’ve been working for a long time to try to get a shot at playing professional baseball.”
That shot materialized when the Baltimore Orioles selected Adleman in the 24th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft with the 718th overall pick last month. The next day, Adleman’s Georgetown battery mate, catcher Erick Fernandez, was selected in the 46th round with the 1,376th pick by the Washington Nationals. Fernandez could not be reached for comment, but Adleman shared some of the details of his draft experience.
“I was in the computer room and got up for a second, and then I heard my name called,” Adleman said. “I was pretty shocked because I knew the Orioles were picking at that time, and I didn’t expect to be chosen then so I had to do a double-take to make sure I had really heard my name.”
Selection in the draft was never a sure thing for Adleman the way it was for a “can’t-miss” prospect like Strasburg, who was drafted last year. The Georgetown right-hander piqued the interest of a few big league clubs during his time as a Hoya, but nothing more than questionnaires ever came from those early inquiries.
“I did get some questionnaires from teams last year, but it didn’t work out,” Adleman said. “Then I got some of the same questionnaires from different teams, then threw a couple good games and got some more questionnaires. After getting those and talking to a few scouts throughout the year, I thought that I had a shot to get drafted.”
Adleman didn’t hear from Orioles scout Chris Gale until the last week of the Hoyas’ season.
“I actually never talked to him on the phone,” Adleman said. “He sent me a questionnaire really late, and it was kind of a surprise that I actually ended up getting picked by the Orioles.”
When asked if he thought that the struggling Orioles, currently sitting in last place in the American League East division, could use his services immediately, Adleman chuckled.
“That’d be nice,” he said. “I’d definitely like that.”
Whether it’s where he expected to be or not, the 6-foot-5, 198-pound hurler from Raleigh, N.C. is thrilled about the possibility of making it to the big leagues with Baltimore.
“It’s just going to take a lot of hard work, dedication and help from coaches and some of the players as well,” Adleman said.
His journey to the show began on Tuesday, Jun. 22 when he made his first professional appearance in a start with the Orioles’ Class A Short Season affiliate, the Aberdeen IronBirds. In four scoreless innings of work against the Brooklyn Cyclones, Adleman allowed just two hits and struck out three without walking a batter.
During his senior year in 2010, Adleman added 83.1 innings pitched to his career total of 293.2 and notched 58 of his 224 career strikeouts en route to a 4-4 season and a 5.51 earned run average. Georgetown’s all-time strikeout leader leaves the Hilltop with a 14-27 career record and a 5.83 earned run average as a Hoya.
As for Fernandez, the 6-foot, 191-pound backstop from Hialeah, Fla. has yet to sign with the Nationals. In 49 starts and 51 total games last season with Georgetown, Fernandez batted .317 with five homeruns and 29 runs batted in. He doubled 13 times and finished the season with a .403 on-base percentage and a .483 slugging percentage.