LOMBARD, Ill. ? Having seen his draft position improve by 40 rounds in one season, Bradley junior pitcher Rob Scahill (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook H.S.) has decided the time is right to focus on his professional career. Selected in the eighth round of last week's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by Colorado, Scahill accepted the organization's $110,000 signing bonus and signed with the Rockies Tuesday evening.
The third Bradley player selected within the first eight rounds of the MLB First-Year Player Draft in the last four seasons, Scahill is scheduled to report today to the Tri-City Dust Devils, located in Pasco, Wash., and Colorado's Single-A rookie affiliate in the Northwest League. Tri-City will open its 2009 season Saturday at Boise.
“We are really happy for Rob as he moves on to the next chapter in his baseball career,” said Bradley head coach Elvis Dominguez. “He worked extremely hard this past season to put himself in this position and it is great to see all his hard work pay off for him. He did a great job of mentoring some of our young pitchers and really showed them what great work ethic can do. We now look forward to watching him climb through the minor leagues.”
After sitting out the entire 2007 season as a medical redshirt, Scahill started fast in 2008 and quickly worked his way to the top of Bradley's starting rotation. In his first start of the 2008 season, Scahill allowed a swinging bunt single to the leadoff hitter, but did not allow another hit in his 6.0 innings of scoreless work. In his second start March 2, 2008 at Eastern Kentucky, then coached by current Bradley skipper Elvis Dominguez, Scahill went the first 5.2 innings without allowing a hit, giving him a streak of 11.2 consecutive hitless innings. He ended the season with a 4-6 record and a 5.49 ERA.
A 6-foot-3 right-hander with a low 90's fastball, Scahill was selected in the 48th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the New York Yankees. His stock truly began to rise last summer while he was pitching in the Great Lakes League. Baseball America tabbed him the No. 10 overall prospect at the conclusion of the collegiate wood-bat summer season.
A fourth-year junior still with one year of college eligibility, Scahill continued to climb the draft ranks by following up his summer experience with another strong season on the mound for the Braves in 2009. Earning honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades, Scahill was 3-3 with a 4.05 earned run average in his 10 starts this past season. He was particularly effective at home, where he posted a 3-0 record and a 0.86 earned run average in his four starts at O'Brien Field, which included a four-hit shutout May 1 against Southern Illinois.
Scahill ends his Bradley career with a 10-15 record and 4.70 earned run average in 38 appearances. Working 214.2 innings Scahill struck out 187 hitters, an average of 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings, and limited the opposition to a .249 batting average.
Scahill becomes the sixth former Brave currently playing professionally for an MLB organization. While Brian Shouse remains on the 15-day disabled list for the Tampa Bay Rays, four other former Braves are playing at the minor league level: Dan Brewer for the Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs (New York Yankees Single-A); Ryan Curry for the Jupiter (Fla.) Jackhammers (Florida Marlins Single-A Advanced); Ryan Eigsti for the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks (Kansas City Royals Single-A Advanced); and Brandon Magee for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays Double-A).
