Second-round pick hopes to heal soon

Rookie catcher Matt McBride may play DH while his shoulder recovers from injury.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- Matt McBride has waited all his life to get to professional baseball.
He may have to wait a little longer to get into the starting lineup for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
McBride, a 21-year-old catcher who was drafted in the second round of the 2006 major league draft by the Cleveland Indians, is on the Scrappers roster, but an injured shoulder may keep him on the bench for the early part of the New York-Penn League season which begins Tuesday night for the Scrappers in Jamestown, N.Y.
McBride, a standout at Lehigh University the last four seasons, is one of 11 first-year draft picks on the Scrappers roster, although the team is expected to add several additions today and tomorrow.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound catcher was the 75th overall pick between the second and third rounds of the draft. He batted .417 with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 61 RBIs in 56 games for the Patriot League champions.
"I'm very excited just to be here," said McBride. "I'm going to be working as hard as I can to get ready. First it will be rehabbing my shoulder."
Getting a chance
McBride expects to see some playing time as the designated hitter early in the season while his shoulder improves.
"The shoulder doesn't bother me at all when I hit," said the native of Bethlehem, Pa.
"I'll work out, out in the bullpen to start the year and do whatever is necessary to get my shoulder ready to play," he added.
Mahoning Valley's second-year manager, Rouglas Odor, likes what he's seen of McBride already.
"We held our first intrasquad scrimmage last week and we were facing several pitchers who are here on rehab work," Odor said.
"I called Matt out of the bullpen to bat in a situation during the scrimmage and he came in and promptly lined a gap shot into left-center his first time at the plate," he said.
"We'll take our time getting his shoulder ready to play, but we will use him a lot as a DH and pinch hitter early in the year," Odor added.
Other recent draftees on the roster are right-handed pitcher Michael Eisenberg, an eighth-round pick out of Marietta College; Jared Goedert, an infielder picked in the ninth round out of Kansas State; Kelly Edmunson, a catcher taken in the 11th round out of Tennessee; Daniel Frega, a right-hander selected in the 12th round out of Illinois State; William Delage, a left-hander chosen in the 14th round out of Lamar University; Stephen Douglas, an outfielder picked in the 16th round out of Tennessee State; Josh Tomlin, a right-hander chosen in the 19th round out of Texas Tech; Derrick Loop, a left-hander selected in the 23rd round out of California State, and Daniel Miltenberger, a right-hander selected in the 46th round out of UCLA.
Also on the roster is right-hander Neil Wagner, who was chosen in the 2005 draft out of North Dakota State.
High selections MIA
The Indians' No. 1 pick, David Huff, a left-hander out of UCLA, chosen in the sandwich round between the first and second rounds, is still unsigned.
McBride, who was the team's fifth pick in the draft, is the highest selection signed.
The Scrappers have four players on the roster for rehab assignment, all pitchers who are expected to see considerable action early in the year.
They include two former Scrappers, Dan Cevette, a left-hander who is currently with Lake County, and Chris Cooper, a left-hander with AAA Buffalo.
Dan Eisentrager, a right-hander and J.D. Martin also a right-hander, are assigned to AA Akron.
The Scrappers will open with a three-game series in Jamestown Tuesday and then open the home portion of their schedule Friday night against Williamsport at 7:05 at Eastwood Field.
mollica@vindy.com