Fox Chapel’s Patrick Monteverde’s baseball journey in high gear in High-A ball
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Patrick Monteverde took an unusual path toward becoming a Major League Baseball draft choice.
So it’s only proper that a possible road to Miami winds through Beloit, Wisc.
The 2016 Fox Chapel graduate is currently pitching – and pitching well – for the Beloit SkyCarp, a High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins located near the Wisconsin-Illinois border.
Thus far, Monteverde has started 11 games and sports a 2-2 record with a 2.73 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 59.1 innings.
After going 7-4 during the 2021 college season at Texas Tech with 101 strikeouts in 86.1 innings, the Marlins selected Monteverde in the eighth round of the MLB draft.
Despite his notable stats, Monteverde knows there’s work to be done.
“There has been a lot of learning curves,” he said. “I’ve taken the most of this opportunity as the first full season of pro ball. There are a lot of guys here who have been in pro ball for quite some time and have a lot of good minds I can pick from. Coaching staff, coordinators, players, I’m surrounded by talent and knowledge of the game. I’m not too proud to ask for pitching ideas.”
The one-time Valley News Dispatch first-team all-star has also had to adjust to a new strike zone.
“It’s a little bit smaller than in high school and college,” Monteverde said with a laugh. “It’s more of a true strike zone. I knew it was going to happen. It’s just throwing strikes and having good stuff and having confidence with it.”
Despite stellar success on the high school level, Monteverde was not recruited by the major colleges. He then started his road to collegiate success at Virginia Wesleyan in Norfolk.
After posting a 7-2 record with a 1.96 ERA, Monteverde transferred to Seton Hill.
The lefthander then faced a major detour after suffering an arm injury after three starts with the 2019 Griffins.
Monteverde underwent Tommy John surgery at Rothman Orthopedic Hospital in Philadelphia. After a quicker-than-usual recovery, he pitched one game for Seton Hill in March 2020 – then the pandemic hit, shutting down yet another season.
Undeterred, Monteverde entered the transfer portal and found 43 schools interested in his services. Wanting to go to a major school in a warm-weather area, it was on to Texas Tech in Lubbock, completing a rare rise through the Division III, Division II and Division I ranks.
Said Monteverde: “The big difference between going from D-3 to D-1 is how your mistakes are being hit. That’s the biggest thing I noticed right away. I’d throw a window change-up low and away that starts as a strike and ends up a ball when I first got to Tech. I’d get a ton of swings and misses at Virginia Wesleyan and Seton Hill. These guys would just take the pitch. So I had to figure out a way to get better. And the raw talent there just blew me away. But being part of that talent group got me to where I am today.”
Besides pitching in the Big 12 Conference, Monteverde got to perform at MLB facilities such as Globe Life Park in Arlington and Minute Maid Park in Houston.
After a successful season in the Gulf Coast (Rookie) League, the Marlins had Monteverde skip the lower Class A Florida League and head to High-A.
Although batting a respectable .347 in 46 high school games with the Foxes, hitting is one thing Monteverde doesn’t have to worry about. In fact, he recalls his last at-bat of his baseball days on May 17, 2016.
“It was my senior year, WPIAL playoffs against Peters Township – hit a double down the left field line,” he said.
But in the pros with the universal designated hitter, Monteverde can concentrate strictly on pitching with his between-starts regimen.
After his start, he’ll have upper body weight training, bike training, arm treatment, time in the cold tub, not being afraid to sweat it out during any type of workout as he spoke to the Tribune-Review just before going through his day-after-start treatment.
“The treatment I’m about to get isn’t very fun,” he said. “They’re digging into some places that are pretty uncomfortable and pretty tight after you pitch. I do the cold tub every day at 45 degrees.”
Monteverde and his fellow pitches usually get 85 to 95 pitches a game, going five or six innings. The goal is to work toward eight or nine innings later in the season under the watchful eyes of manager Jorge Hernandez and pitching coach Jason Erickson.
In the locker room, Monteverde said the SkyCarp are all pulling for each other to get better and make it to the major leagues.
After overcoming so many obstacles, no one should be surprised to see Monteverde in a Miami Marlins uniform in the future.