How Michigan's Bushel Full of Draft Picks Developed, Put Baseball Back on Map
6/17/2020 12:00:00 PM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Wolverine baseball head coach Erik Bakich said something after last week's MLB Draft that struck a chord: "The labor along the way actually is the fruit."
The work his players and the coaching and support staff have put in since Bakich arrived in 2012 has brought a rich harvest to the University of Michigan, which reached the championship game of the College World Series last June and has produced a bushel full of draft picks.
"For most people, seeing is believing," said Bakich. "Nobody thinks we can go to Omaha until we go to Omaha. For us, believing is seeing, that was the theme of our mindset -- a true belief that there's nothing we can't accomplish, nothing we can't do, nothing holding us back."
The 23 Wolverines drafted in the last four years are the program's most in that length of time since the draft originated in 1965. The 18 different players selected from 1965-68 in the three drafts MLB held annually back then (January secondary phase, June regular and June secondary) had been the record.
Higher picks are becoming more frequent, too.
The Wolverines had four players taken over five rounds in the shortened 2020 draft, while the rest of the Big Ten had two. If you combine that with the first five rounds in 2019, Michigan has seven picks in those rounds compared to four for the rest of the conference.
"I'm so happy for our players," said Bakich. "It speaks volumes to their God-given ability, their work ethic, their development not only as baseball players but as people. They are high-character men, leaders within our program, and just couldn't be more proud of them and what they've accomplished in this game up to this point. I know they all feel like there's no finish line and there's more to be done."
Bakich noted that the Wolverines would have had another three or four juniors taken in the traditional 40-round MLB Draft from the group of catcher Joe Donovan (who signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians on June 16) and pitchers Blake Beers, Isaiah Paige and Angelo Smith.
Those seven early-round picks from the last two drafts -- five of whom went to high school in Michigan -- become even more of a development story when you consider that only Jeff Criswell (35th round, Detroit Tigers) and Jesse Franklin (37th round, Seattle Mariners) were drafted out of high school in 2017.
Jordan Nwogu and 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year Jordan Brewer were so far off the radar that nobody so much as scouted them. Tommy Henry, Karl Kauffmann and Jack Blomgren had plenty of talent, but not enough to have anybody take a late-round flier on them.
"Obviously, we want the very best players in the country," said Bakich. "But the other part of that is finding the right people. Our No. 1 job is to protect and defend our culture. Who we bring in and the character they have and the families they are a part of and how they've been raised are extremely important when it comes to blending in with a team -- especially at a school like Michigan, where it truly is about 'The team. The team. The team.'
"And whatever their deficiencies might be coming out of high school, whatever tools they haven't fully developed and whatever skills need to be improved upon, when you have the right type of kid from the right type of family with the right type of character, they're going to figure it out. These guys have all gotten better; they've figured things out. And they've made themselves into the players they are."
Bakich is beginning to attract much more than diamonds in the rough these days, though.
Next June, dazzling left-handed pitcher Steven Hajjar from Andover, Massachusetts, figures to become the Wolverines' first first-round pick since 2000. He could go high in that round, too.
Bakich said he is getting into the living rooms of elite players that were not much interested a few short years ago.
"I think the interest level is just wider and broader," said Bakich. "It's kids from the Midwest, it's coast to coast. It's a higher caliber of player that is interested in Michigan even before we start talking to them. You have their interest just because of the Block M, the winged helmets in football and academics. But now that they're seeing there is a baseball program as well ... and developing baseball players and achieving success as well, it becomes even more of an attractive option.
"We have these players to thank for that ... Recruits are paying attention because we're consistently churning out draft picks and having success on and off the field."
Owen Caissie -- a left-handed power-hitting outfielder from Brampton, Ontario, Canada -- is proof of that. He committed to Michigan, but Bakich will be extremely surprised if Caissie does not sign with the San Diego Padres, who made him the 45th overall selection early in the second round.
Bakich also believes his four juniors drafted Thursday (June 11) will go pro: Oakland A's pitcher Criswell (second round, No. 58), Chicago Cubs outfielder Nwogu (third round, No. 88), Atlanta Braves outfielder Franklin (third round, No. 97) and Colorado Rockies shortstop Blomgren (fifth round, No. 140).
Criswell and Nwogu, who share an Ann Arbor apartment, and Blomgren were able to join Bakich on a Zoom call with reporters the day after the draft. They had a virtual get-together the day after Nwogu's parents hosted much of the team at their house in Ann Arbor for a draft watch party.
"When Jeff went," said Nwogu, "everyone was screaming. And then they were screaming for me ... Then we heard Jesse's name, and everyone was ecstatic. When Blommy went, it was really cool. It's exciting to see your boys follow their dreams, too."
Nwogu
So, how did they do it?
How did these Wolverines develop into early-round MLB draft picks after entering school three years ago with so much to prove?
"Their skill set was magnified as we went through the postseason where there were less and less teams on display and more eyes on them," said Bakich. "It just goes to show you when you're on teams that have success, more people are interested in getting players from those teams. There are more opportunities to watch them, see them and evaluate them.
"They maybe don't get drafted as high if we don't go to the World Series. It's such a great message for everyone. Jimmy Kerr doesn't get drafted last year (by the Detroit Tigers) if we don't make the postseason."
Scouts and team executives saw Michigan players play evenly, and at some times better than the top talent in the country. The Wolverines were a combined 3-3 in 2019 against No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Vanderbilt, and beat No. 8 Texas Tech twice in Omaha.
Then Michigan beat No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Arizona State in Arizona this February to earn the Wolverines a No. 1 ranking in a baseball poll for the first time in history. Detroit Tigers No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson went 0-for-3 with a walk as Hajjar and Jack White shut out the Sun Devils.
That "labor" that brought "fruit" has made all of this possible.
"I can't speak enough about the coaching staff and the job they've done," said Blomgren. "The years I've been at Michigan have been the greatest years of my life. It's crazy to think about myself developing as much as I did, and most of that credit is to the coaching staff and what they've preached to us and done for us ... every single day, getting better.
"Taking care of things on and off the field has definitely helped me grow as a player. Coming out of high school, I was a little immature, and once I stepped on campus, and being around higher-level players and a high-level of coaching, definitely helped me mature. They put me in the right mindset to know what I wanted to do with my life, and that's baseball. So, I'm very appreciative for Coach Bakich and Coach (Nick) Schnabel and even (pitching) Coach (Chris) Fetter."
Nwogu added, "I definitely agree. I think the coaching staff at Michigan is amazing. For me, what they've helped me get to, I owe that all to Coach Bakich, Coach Schnabel, Coach (Michael) Brdar, who left (for the San Francisco Giants organization) and Coach Gordo (Max Gordon), who is a new coach. But I can't say enough about the coaching staff."
These players also have shown that there's enough talent in Michigan for the Wolverines to win big on the national front. Brewer, Criswell, Henry, Kauffmann and Nwogu all are in-state players. Franklin is from Seattle and Blomgren from Milton, Wisconsin.
Bakich said: "We're not going to make any excuses. Don't give me that BS about the weather. There is nothing that is going to stop us. They bought into that, and they did it. It just goes to show you, kids in the Midwest or kids in cold-weather regions can play ball, can develop in the right situations, and kids from Michigan need to pay attention. To all future recruits: 'Take a note from what our players have done and are doing because these guys are inspiring.' All of them, all seven of them, and really our whole team, but these guys in particular are inspiring future generations of baseball players and that's as big of a storyline as their personal success."
Criswell played at a rival high school against Henry when both grew up on the west side of the state in Portage.
"Coach Bakich always tells us the best players in Michigan should go to Michigan, and that's how we feel," Criswell said. "That's the example we wanted to set for those future guys and for the guys EB is going to recruit. It's really cool, and people are starting to realize you don't have to go down south to get drafted or go to the College World Series or achieve any goal you have."
Criswell
Bakich recalled the journey each of the four 2020 draft picks experienced as Wolverines.
On Nwogu: "Jordan Nwogu is the most improved player I have ever seen physically in my time coaching. To think he started as a kid we just said he could try out in the fall who was here on an engineering scholarship, wasn't going to make the team, was told at no point in his first freshman fall that he would have a spot on the team, he was going to have to redshirt because his physical skills were just lacking. He was a football player. That was always his No. 1 sport. And to see him grow and improve and get better, I couldn't be more proud of that guy. There's no finish line on how he continues to improve."
On Criswell: "Jeff and I butted heads his freshman fall. He was a little bit of a knucklehead. He has grown so much as a man, as a leader, as a person. When he really improved between the ears and when he really matured and made the decision that school and baseball were going to be his focus, he just took off. He reached a different level. He's a phenomenal talent, but his biggest growth has been in the type of person he is."
On Franklin: "Jesse did get offered big money out of high school. But his growth has been about simplifying things. He struggled his freshman year. He was this huge prospect, and I made the mistake of putting him in the lineup in the four hole. He already had these massive expectations, and watched him struggle.
"To watch him overcome getting knocked down, and how he found a way to get back up and get in the lineup, and have success. That was his defining moment his freshman year, and then he had a very productive sophomore year, putting up huge numbers and playing a dynamite center field. He was an explosive, catalyst-type player who competed on and off the field. There was no one more devastated by a broken collarbone (in 2020) than that kid with his skiing accident. But to see that he'll continue to play as an Atlanta Brave is really cool."
On Blomgren: "That kid was the heart and soul of our team in the postseason with his toughness on display.Toughest kid I've ever coached, playing with broken fingers, playing with strained obliques, always plays and is 100 percent every day, all out, and never, ever takes it off.
"Who doesn't love that guy, because you don't see that guy very often anymore? You don't see the rub-the-dirt-on-it type of kid as much. Even the tough guys of today's age aren't the tough guys of a generation ago. He's two generations ago. Jack Blomgren is a guy that would make every World War II veteran proud for being a tough guy. He's an amazing kid."
It won't hurt Blomgren's chances that he was the only infielder Colorado selected in five rounds, and Franklin was the lone position player tabbed by Atlanta. Nwogu was the Cubs' only outfield pick. However, Criswell was the first of three right-handers taken by Oakland.
They leave behind a great legacy as they head to pro ball.
"I'm very grateful to be part of a great team at a time in Michigan baseball when they needed that," said Blomgren. "We really wrote history for Michigan baseball to come and hopefully change Michigan baseball forever."
Criswell said: "Guys go to Michigan for the opportunity to compete on a national stage and play amongst the best players in the country. Going through that with 35 of your best friends was unlike anything I could really describe. Towards the end, we were able to see how we were inspiring some future generations of Michigan players."
Nwogu concluded: "Although we didn't win (the national championship), what we left behind, putting Michigan baseball back on the map. That's the coolest part."
Seniors Returning
Bakich said outfielders Dominic Clementi and Christan Bullock (both of whom have extensive starting experience) and pitcher Joe Pace (who showed great signs in 2020) are taking advantage of the NCAA rule allowing 2020 seniors another year of eligibility after losing the vast majority of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bakich said senior reliever Benjamin Keizer considered returning for a sixth year and attending law school, but is hoping to sign as a free agent.
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