8A — Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Adcock reflects on current minor league career

Brett Adcock may no longer 

don the maize and blue, but he’s 
still a Wolverine. 

Following 
an 
impressive 

three-year career at Michigan, 
the Houston Astros selected the 
6-foot left-hander in the fourth 
round of the 2016 MLB Draft. 
He was the 127th overall pick 
out of 1,215 draftees, and now 
plays for the Houston’s Single-A 
farm 
team 
– 
the 
Tri-City 

ValleyCats. 
Adcock 
finished 

his college tenure with a 24-13 
record – making him the sixth 
most 
winningest 
pitcher 
in 

Wolverine history. In addition 
to his impressive win total, 
Adcock ranks fifth in career 
strikeouts with 256.

Adcock established himself 

as a legitimate major league 
prospect in his junior season, 
when 
he 
struck 
out 
100 

batters in 14 starts and 15 total 
appearances. 
His 
ability 
to 

strike out batters as a lefty – 
Adcock ranked fifth amongst 
left-handed 
pitchers 
in 
the 

NCAA with 11.49 strikeouts 
per nine innings – appealed to 
many major league scouts. The 
interest from the big leagues 
left Adcock with the humbling 
decision of whether to finish out 
his career as a Wolverine, or live 
out the boyish dream of playing 
professional baseball.

“It was my time to take my 

play to the next step,” Adcock 
said. “I just felt like I was ready 
to go onto the next level.”

There is a learning curve 

for any player going from the 
collegiate level to professional 
baseball. 
Adcock 
recognizes 

this difficulty, but credits the 
Michigan coaching staff for 
preparing him for the next level.

“I feel like the (Michigan) 

coaches got me ready,” Adcock 
said. “The coaches definitely 

know what they’re talking about. 
They’re Division I coaches, they 
were 
hired 

in part to get 
college 
guys 

prepared for the 
minor 
leagues 

and the pros. 
They definitely 
did that for me. 
Honestly, I can’t 
thank 
them 

enough.”

In 
fact, 

he 
even 
says 

the 
training 

regimen was more intense in 
college than the minors.

Nevertheless, 
Adcock 
is 

quick to point out that the level 
of play is still much higher 

in 
professional 

baseball 
than 

in college; day-
in 
and 
day-

out 
one 
plays 

against 
a 
team 

of 
exclusively 

the 
very 
best 

collegiate players. 
But 
unlike 
in 

college 
ball, 

where 
there 
is 

a team element, 
he is constantly 

competing 
with 
his 
minor 

league teammates to get a call up 
to the next level and ultimately a 

chance at the big leagues. 

“When you get to minor 

league ball you 
don’t really have 
a team aspect 
anymore,” 
Adcock 
said. 

“Everyone 
is 

trying 
to 
get 

to the top and 
everyone 
is 

trying 
to 
get 

your 
job. 
In 

college, 
it’s 
a 

team 
aspect 

more than an 
individual one. You’re with 
those guys 12 hours a day, five 
to six days a week. We were all 

together doing the same thing, 
pushing each other. I definitely 

miss it, (my advice 
to 
my 
former 

teammates) is to 
enjoy it.”

The 

competitive 
nature of minor 
league 
baseball 

is simply a part 
of 
the 
process 

of 
becoming 
a 

professional. 
Luckily 
for 

Adcock, he has 

a former Wolverine in first 
baseman 
Carmen 
Benedetti 

going through the process with 

him.

The 
two 
are 
not 
only 

teammates on the ValleyCats, 
but friends who – after three 
years playing together – will 
rely on one another both on and 
off the field in 2017, during their 
first full year in the minors.

Adcock saw limited action in 

Single-A summer ball in 2016, 
appearing in just three games 
before tearing his meniscus 
fielding a bunt. In the summer 
between 
his 
freshman 
and 

sophomore years at Michigan, 
Adcock 
suffered 
a 
similar 

injury. Having gone through the 
injury and rehabilitation before 
gives him confidence moving 
forward.

“I had meniscus surgery, I 

had the same kind of injury in 
college,” he said. “So I knew 
what was going to happen and 
how I was going to get through 
it.”

In order for Adcock to rise 

up through the minor league 
ranks, he will have to come back 
strong from the injury and also 
improve his game, as about just 
17 percent of MLB Draft picks 
see any time in the majors, 
according to BaseballAmerica.
com. Adcock knows that to 
succeed at the next level he must 
stay consistent, throw more 
strikes and continue to improve.

Despite 
going 
from 
an 

amateur 
to 
a 
professional, 

which includes earning a salary, 
Adcock notes that his mindset 
hasn’t 
changed. 
While 
it’s 

an added benefit to get paid, 
turning pro was never about 
making money. 

“The potential to get paid 

didn’t play a role (in my decision 
to go pro) because it’s not just 
the money,” he said. “You have 
to love (baseball) and appreciate 
that you’re not sitting at a desk 
nine hours a day. You’re playing 
and having fun doing something 
you love.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Brett Adcock’s Michigan career

256

Career strikeouts — good for fifth in 

program history.

11.49

Strikeouts per nine innings — good 

for fifth in the NCAA in 2016.

24

Career wins, a total that made him 
the sixth most winningest pitcher in 

program history.

100

Strikeouts in 15 appearances on the 

mound as a junior.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Former Wolverine Brett Adcock left Michigan as the sixth most winningest pitcher in program history, and is now playing for the Astros’ Single-A farm team.

“All of my college 

teammates 

helped prepare 

me”

“You’re playing 

and having fun 

doing something 

you love”

HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan’s former left-hander is playing for the Tri-City ValleyCats, working his way toward the majors