SOUTH YARMOUTH — Steve Englert has seen 1000’s of promising gamers and numerous eventual stars come via the distinguished Cape Cod Baseball League. He joined the Harwich Mariners teaching workers in 1998, and has been their discipline supervisor since 2003.
Many of Major League Baseball’s greatest stars on this century labored with “Coach E” on their method to the professionals, and he’s made an enduring impression on them. Josh Donaldson, Sean Doolittle, Brandon Belt, Ian Happ, Tim Lincecum, and Kevin Gausman had been all Harwich gamers of their youth. Happ used to play golf with Englert. Once, on a time off in Boston, DJ LeMahieu drove all the way down to pay his previous supervisor a go to.
In different phrases, Englert is a person who is aware of a star on the rise when he sees one, and is aware of the right way to assist a participant get the place they’re making an attempt to go.
He helped Kyle Teel, too, briefly.
The Red Sox first-round choose was solely with Harwich for a minuscule fraction of Englert’s embellished CCBL profession, however Cape League first formed Teel’s life earlier than he was born. His father, Garett, performed for the Cotuit Kettleers in 1988 earlier than getting drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers the next 12 months. The elder Teel spent 5 seasons of their system earlier than turning into a catching coach for the group.
During the youthful Teel’s first assembly with the Boston media on the primary night time of the draft, he credited his work ethic to his father. In his transient stint with Harwich, that attribute made fairly the impression on his skipper.
“His work ethic, his make-up, character, the kid plays hard,” Englert informed the Herald. “You can see he’s an impact player for sure.”
Teel solely collected three hits (one double), three runs, and one RBI in his eight Cape League video games, however coupled along with his faculty profession, he blew Englert away.
“The kid’s had a stellar career all three years at (University of) Virginia,” Englert stated of the catcher’s time as a Cavalier. “It’s no surprise at all he went in the first round.”
Teel is his faculty program’s most embellished catcher. He added to his already-impressive resumé on Tuesday, when the Virginia Association of Sports Information Directors (VaSID) named him the state’s Player of the Year.
Over his three years and 177 video games at UVA, Teel hit .343 with 28 dwelling runs, 48 doubles, and 170 runs, which all rank within the top-ten in program historical past. He’s proven admirable plate self-discipline, posting an on-base share over .400 every season, and drawing nearly as many profession walks (97) as he struck out (109). In 2023, he collected 105 hits (a brand new program single-season file), 25 doubles, 13 homers, and 69 RBI in 65 video games, and saved his batting common above .400 for all the season, ending his faculty efficiency with a .407 season, all whereas whereas beginning behind the plate every sport.
Did something about Teel shock the Harwich supervisor?
“I wasn’t really surprised at all,” he stated. “I knew exactly what I was getting.”
“Any time you’re writing the lineup, for me, it’s a trust factor. What am I going to get out of the kid today? And there was no issue whatsoever there,” the supervisor explains. “The trust factor was there on a daily basis. You knew what you were getting out of him, you knew you were gonna get an honest effort, you knew you were gonna get a competitive effort.”
If Teel makes it to the majors, his Cape League supervisor has the proper nickname to placed on the again of his Players’ Weekend jersey.
“He’s so into the game, he’s kinda like, he looks like a can of Red Bull. I mean, he doesn’t stop,” the supervisor stated.
“You love guys like that around your team. He’s a great teammate, we really did enjoy having him for that short period of time. We wish we had him all summer,” he continued. “The kid just, you watch him play, and you just come away with it that he loves playing baseball. You can just say, that kid really enjoys playing the game, and he has a passion for it, and I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
To discover a catcher who excels defensively and offensively is to search out the needle within the haystack, however that’s what Englert sees in Teel.
“It’s extremely difficult. You get an offensive catcher or defensive catcher, he’s both,” the supervisor stated. “Great receiver, plus defender, and he can swing the bat, clearly.
“Behind there, he’s extremely athletic,” he stated, pointing to dwelling plate. “He threw a couple of guys out last year that, I was yelling from the dugout, ‘Eat it!’ and he ends up throwing. He’s got all these different arm angles, and he gets the ball in the air, and he puts it on the bag. Yeah, he’s a plus-plus defender back there.”
It’s not exhausting to see why he’s already being referred to as the group’s most fun catching prospect since Jason Varitek.
Fittingly, Varitek was the 14th choose in his draft, too; the Seattle Mariners drafted him in ’94 and traded him to Boston in ’97. In reality, Teel is the primary faculty catcher drafted 14th total for the reason that former Red Sox captain and present coach. They even share an agent, Scott Boras.
Hearing the Varitek comparability, Englert chuckled.
“That’s a bold statement,” he stated, then added, “Hey, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”
Red Sox 2023 MLB draft tracker
No. 14: Kyle Teel, C (Virginia)
No. 50: Nazzan Zanetello, SS (Christian Brothers College HS, Mo.)
No. 83: Antonio Anderson, SS (North Atlanta HS, Ga.)
No. 115: Matt Duffy, RHP (Canisius College)
No. 132: Kristian Campbell, SS (Georgia Tech)
No. 133: Justin Riemer, SS (Wright State)
No. 151: Connelly Early, LHP (Virginia)
No. 178: CJ Weins, RHP (Western Kentucky)
No. 208: Caden Rose, OF (Alabama)
No. 238: Trennor O’Donnell, RHP (Ball State)
No. 268: Blake Wehunt, RHP (Kennesaw State)
No. 298: Ryan Ammons, LHP (Clemson)
No. 328: Nelly Taylor, OF (Polk State)
No. 358: Max Carlson, RHP, (North Carolina)
No. 388: Cade Feeney, RHP (North Dakota State)
No. 418: Jojo Ingrassia, LHP (Cal State Fullerton)
No. 448: Phoenix Call, SS (Calabasas HS, Ca.)
No. 478: Isaac Stebens, RHP (Oklahoma State)
No. 508: Dylan Schlaegel, OF (Legacy HS, Tx.)
No. 538: Zach Fogell, LHP (Connecticut)
No. 568: Stanley Tucker, OF (Texas A&M)
No. 598: Robert Orloski, RHP (Middleton HS, Id.)
Source: www.bostonherald.com