State College pitcher Andrew Summerville reunited with Quinn Brodey and Matt Winaker in Brooklyn this weekend.
Andrew Summerville was greeted by two familiar faces when he took the mound in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
Quinn Brodey and Matt Winaker, his teammates at Stanford University, were both on hand at MCU Park for the first start of Summerville’s career. This time, though, they were on the opposing sidelines.
STANFORD TIES
Brodey, Winaker, and Summerville were teammates in the Pac-12 and rivals in the NYPL. Here’s how they stack up:
Quinn Brodey was the Mets’ third round pick in 2017. The left fielder is batting .242 after going 0-for-4 on Sunday evening. He has zero home runs and nine runs batted-in.
Matt Winaker was the Mets’ fifth round pick in 2017. The first baseman is batting .246 after going 1-for-4 on Sunday evening. He has zero home runs and three runs batted-in.
Andrew Summerville was the Cardinals’ twelfth round pick in 2017. The left-handed pitcher has a 1.86 earned-run average in four appearances. He has notched a save and a win.
Brodey, Winaker, and Summerville were all picked in the first dozen rounds of the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft. But while signing bonuses and draft slots may have theoretically put them on different trajectories, they’re all bonded together by their alma mater… and something else.
It just so happens to be that after signing their initial contracts, they were all assigned to the New York-Penn League. As such, when the Brooklyn Cyclones and State College Spikes met for a three-game series over the weekend, the three former teammates were all in attendance.
It didn’t go unnoticed.
“Here in pro ball, you don’t get to see a lot of familiar faces, and so I’ve just tried to enjoy these last three days with them,” Summerville said.
Summerville, 21, spent three seasons with the Cardinal, where he earned First-Team Academic All-Pac-12 honors. Originally selected in the thirty-fourth round of the 2014 Draft, he chose to attend college before turning pro. That turned out to be a fairly easy decision.
“Stanford provides an unrivaled balance between academics and athletics,” he told the school’s website. “For this reason, and also Stanford’s innovative, inventive culture, I thought it presented the best opportunity to both play baseball and get an education.”
In addition to majoring in Mgmt. Science & Engineering, the lefty pitcher honed his skills on the baseball diamond. He developed a fastball that can reach the low-90s and a rare 12-6 curve that sits in the low-60s. This fast-curve combo was one of the biggest reasons for his draft slot.
“I think it’s something that keeps the hitters off balance,” Summerville said about his curveball, via Gordon Brunskill of the Centre Daily Times. “It’s something that a lot of guys don’t throw these days. It’s a little bit of a slower pitch. The game’s tending toward harder sliders and I can feature that too, but I like throwing that (big curve) just because it has so much movement.”
After impressing almost everybody during his freshman and sophomore campaigns, he took a slight step back during his junior season. He posted a 4.10 ERA in 15 appearances — a sizeable leap from the 3.38 and 2.90 he posted the two seasons before.
As such, he understands that there’s work to be done — particularly when it comes to commanding his fastball.
“You know, one thing that we’re working on here is just commanding that fastball,” he said.
“Working on establishing those fastballs in, going to my next pitches after that. Regardless of what level you’re at, the fastball in is probably going to be one of the best pitches you’re going to have, and that’s something I’m working on over here.”
Even with the tweaks, he’ll need to make sometime down the road, there’s still a lot for Somerville to be feeling good about. His 1.86 ERA ranks fourth on the club, and his 12-6 curveball is fooling everybody — including his ex-teammates.
On Saturday, with the bright lights of Coney Island providing a fitting backdrop, he went five innings without surrendering a run. Brodey and Winaker were held hitless (they did combine for two walks, though).
Brodey, the Mets’ 2017 third round pick, and Winaker, the Mets’ 2017 fifth round pick, have been trying to dig the ‘Clones out of a seemingly insurmountable hole.
The team is currently 7-18, good for the worst start in franchise history. Equally alarming is Brooklyn’s cumulative ERA, which is the third-worst in NYPL history entering Sunday’s contest (5.39).
Still, however much that bothers them, they understand that there’s more to baseball than just what happens on the field. This weekend, Brodey and Winaker made sure to catch up with an old friend, too.
“I was able to get dinner with Matt [Winaker] last night,” Somerville said, “and it’s just been refreshing to see some familiar faces.”
SUNDAY RECAP
Brooklyn 2, State College 1
Brooklyn LHP Gunnar Kines tossed 6.0 innings of one-hit ball, and after he allowed a run in the top of the seventh, Trey Cobb bailed him out — as per usual. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with runners at first and second and two outs, Jose Miguel Medina hit a walk-off single to give the ‘Clones the victory.
UP NEXT
Monday, July 17th vs Staten Island: LHP Jake Simon (0-2, 7.45 ERA) makes his sixth start of the season against the SI Yankees in the series opener on Monday night. He allowed three hits and one run in 5.0 innings at Mahoning Valley his last time out. SI’s starter will be announced shortly.