10
Thursday, June 21, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Jonathan
Engelmann
sat
in a locker room in Goodyear,
Ari. listening to sage words
from the Cleveland Indians
director of player development
James Harris.
With an insecure future
and a head full of fantasies,
Engelmann gathered with all
the new Indians signees at at
Cleveland’s
spring
training
facility in Arizona. That’s
when Harris reminded them
all why they were there.
Harris instructed the young
ball players to close their eyes
and imagine that it was game
seven of the World Series and
that they were part of the team
that had a shot to win it all. He
asked them to imagine what
that moment would feel like,
what it would smell like.
“Now imagine that’s five
years from now,” Harris said as
the players then opened their
eyes. He then followed with a
simple question, “What would
you do every day to prepare
yourself for that moment?”
Through
a
simple
yet
effective exercise, Harris had
inspired every individual in
that room—least of all the
now-former center fielder for
Michigan.
“It’s
something
I
won’t
forget,” Engelmann said, “So
leaning on that and carrying
that through my professional
career for as long as I can is
what’s gonna drive me.”
Only a few
days
prior,
Engelmann
had
chosen
to forego his
final year of
eligibility
at
Michigan
and
sign
a
major league
contract.
Engelmann
was
drafted
in the 31st round by the
Indians and will now embrace
the slow grind of minor-league
baseball.
It’s a drastic change for any
top-tier baseball player. You
go from being the go-to guy at
a big program to working your
way through the ranks. But
Engelmann is confident that
he’s prepared for this moment.
“It’s funny, going back to the
bottom of the totem pole, gotta
work your way back up, which
is fine,” Engelmann said. “It’s
kinda how I’ve lived and I’m no
stranger to adverse situations,
and this is something that I’ve
trained for at Michigan. We
always train to be comfortable
in uncomfortable situations.”
Another
circumstance
that Engelmann will have to
overcome is his draft position.
As
long
as
sports
drafts
have
existed,
players drafted
later
than
expected
have
been
humbled
in
their
abilities.
And
that’s
exactly
what
happened with
Engelmann
at
the MLB Draft.
Heading
into
the
draft,
Engelmann
and
his
camp
heard rumors that he could
potentially be selected in day
two, meaning rounds 3-10.
Then, for whatever reason —
the draft, much like the game
of baseball, is very fickle —
Engelmann
tumbled
down
draft boards and was selected
in the 31st round.
With a year of eligibility
left, getting drafted that late
forces the player to make
a tough decision — stay in
school or go for the pros.
Getting drafted in the latter
half of the draft does not
guarantee the draftee enough
money to make it worth it and
may not set that person up for
immediate success within the
organization.
Getting his desired amount
of money and a shot to play in
the pros, Engelmann signed
and never looked back.
Despite being picked so
late,
Engelmann
remains
optimistic about his future—
but simultaneously will be
playing with a massive chip on
his shoulder.
“It’s a chip on my shoulder
that I’m gonna carry forever,”
Engelmann
said.
“It’s
something that you realize,
how lucky of an opportunity
this is regardless of what
round,
and
I’m
extremely
happy with that. I mean don’t
get me misconstrued, getting a
chance to play professionally
has been a dream of mine
since I was young, so I’m more
than happy, but yeah, there is
a chip.
“I go out there and it’s time
to go and prove some people
wrong.”
One of the people Engelmann
will not have to prove wrong is
Aaron Etchison.
Etchison, a former Michigan
coach
during
Engelmann’s
freshman
and
sophomore
seasons, now works as an area
scout for the Indians. Knowing
what Engelmann was capable
of, Etchison rolled the dice
and was able to pick up the
junior in the 31st round.
Always the first to recognize
the scope of an institution like
Michigan, Engelmann remains
thankful for the connections
being a Wolverine has given
him.
“So there’s a great Michigan
connection right there, just
one of the many reasons you
go and get your degree,”
Engelmann said. “You have
that
network,
and
there’s
always one person in that big
company or firm that knows or
has studied at Michigan.”
Now
Engelmann
will
depart the team after having
completed a breakout junior
season. The center fielder led
the team in runs (43), hits (74),
doubles (14) and stolen bases
(21) and was second on the
team in batting average (.351),
home runs (6) and RBI (44).
The
junior
joins
fellow
teammates junior left-hander
William Tribucher and senior
right-hander Jayce Vancena in
signing major league contracts.
Tribucher was drafted in the
14th round by the Colorado
Rockies and Vancena in the
31st by the Detroit Tigers.
Engelmann may not don a
maize and blue uniform next
season, but his time in Ann
Arbor is not done yet. He will
finish out his degree in Ann
Arbor next year, barring the
existence of any development
camp he would have to attend
for the Indians.
In terms of his baseball
career as a Wolverine, though,
all that’s left for Engelmann
now is to reflect on his legacy
at Michigan.
“I hope that the one thing
that I can say a lot in my head
is that I left the uniform in
a better place,” Engelmann
said. “You put your uniform
down and you think, ‘Did I
do everything to represent
Michigan right and be the best
teammate that I could? And I
hope that above everything,
above any stats or moments on
the field, that I was the best
teammate and the best person
and the best Michigan man
that I could be.”
Engelmann departs ‘M’ and signs with the Indians
JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor
CAMERON HUNT / DAILY
Junior center fielder Jonathan Engelmann signs with the Cleveland Indians after being drafted in the 31st round of the MLB Draft and a breakout year with at Michigan
“It’s a chip on
my shoulder
that I’m gonna
carry forever”