Former Denham Springs High and Southeastern Louisiana University pitcher Mac Sceroler was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in Thursday's Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft.
Sometimes life comes at you fast, something Mac Sceroler is finding out this week.
Sceroler, a former Denham Springs and Southeastern Louisiana standout, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles organization during Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft on Thursday.
“It has been a good past couple days for me,” said Sceroler, who graduated from Southeastern earlier this week. “I’m real excited for this opportunity coming up.”
Sceroler was drafted out of Southeastern in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2017. Players become eligible for the Rule 5 draft if they are not added to their club’s 40-man roster within five seasons of being drafted at age 18 or four seasons if drafted at age 19.
“Nothing really changes from year in, year out,” Sceroler said. “I understand that it’s just part of the business and these organizations like the Reds, they have their top prospects who they want to protect and kind of lock down. From my standpoint, nothing really changes. I’ve just got to continue to work hard and make the most of my opportunities given to me.”
“I knew I was eligible for the Rule 5, but you really don’t hear much going into it,” Sceroler continued. “It’s not as big of a deal as the actual MLB Draft is. I did kind of have an idea that the Orioles were considering taking me, but it was kind of still a surprise for me.”
Sceroler said he’s ready to get to work as a member of the Orioles’ organization.
“I talked to a few of their front office and a few coaches here and there, but all I’m aware is that they’re a rebuilding team who is just looking for prospects,” he said. “I’m real happy with the opportunity given to me by them, and I’m excited for it.”
“I’m feeling real good about it,” Sceroler continued. “They seem like very friendly people, and it seems like everybody’s ready to kind of getting the ball rolling. They said that there’s plans for me in the Orioles’ organization, and they think that I can fit the plans that they want to do, so I’m real excited about it. They’ve got some good things going on in Baltimore, and I’m real excited about it. They’re currently rebuilding now, so they’re pretty much just stocking their system with some young prospects.”
His selection in the Rule 5 draft was announced on the Twitter feed of the Bowie Baysox, the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, but Sceroler said he’s not sure at what level he’ll be pitching next.
“I am not sure what the plans are,” he said. “We’ll just have to kind of wait and see how everything unfolds,” he said. “I’m just excited to start this new chapter in my life. Wherever they send me, I’ll be as happy as can be.”
In 2019, Sceroler went 5-4 with a 3.69 ERA, giving up 101 hits with 127 strikeouts in 117 innings at High-A Daytona.
“Back whenever I was in Daytona, I feel like I had a good year that year,” he said. “I feel like I learned a lot with the coaching staff there and I really found my groove and I was pitching well.”
But Sceroler wasn’t able to build on those numbers when the minor league baseball season was canceled because of COVID-19.
“It’s been tough,” Sceroler said. “We went to spring training and then we got sent home right around mid-March.”
That doesn’t mean Sceroler didn’t stop working on his craft.
“With the Reds – I’m sure a bunch of other organizations were doing this too, but we had to send in video updates of us pitching on the mound, facing live hitters, and that was kind of our way to continue to get our work in during this shutdown period,” Sceroler said. “The Reds handled this very well. I’m pretty happy with the progress that I’ve made during this quarantine year.”
Sceroler said part of his routine including meeting up with a group of other professional baseball players once a week at Zachary High, getting in live batting practice and pitching.
“I feel like every athlete, no matter what sport you play, does better whenever they find a routine for themselves that works for them,” he said. “With this quarantine and COVID year, it’s been pretty hard to get on a routine. I think all the athletes that find it within themselves to stay self-disciplined and to continue to work hard whenever nobody’s watching, I think those are the athletes that are really going to come out on top of this quarantine 2020.”
