From Vestal, New York to Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia and stops in between, Dan Jurik blazed a trail through minor league baseball this summer. The former St. John Fisher Cardinal and Webster Yankee listened to the Major League draft with his parents. When the moment came, and he heard his name called, Jurik embarked on a journey he won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t soon forget.<\/p>\n
Jurik started the summer in the Rookie Gulf Coast, made a two-week stop with the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League, and earned a promotion to the Rome Braves of the Class A South Atlantic League. For his efforts the right-hander found himself on the field at Turner Field being introduced with the other top prospects in the Braves\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 organization.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It went by too fast,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d commented Jurik of his first time on Turner Field. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wish I could have had more time to savor the moment. You really couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see anyone in the stands because the lights were so bright.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The right-hander might need to get used to the bright lights. In 14 appearances this summer, Jurik held opposing hitters to a .221 batting average over 68.2 innings. He struck out 52 while walking just 15 including 17 frames in the South Atlantic League where hitters managed to hit a measly .190 against him.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I worked really hard,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jurik. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was with the Braves for a reason, and I used the stuff that got me there. I learned to adjust. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter if you are only going to work half of the plate. Guys at the professional level are going to catch up with you. You have to adapt the second time through the lineup.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Learning how to adapt is something Jurik realized after his time with Webster in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That summer was a good chance to step outside myself and take a look at what I was doing. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have a very good junior year. I was more concerned with trying to blow the ball by guys.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jurik tossed 35 and a third innings with the Webster nine going 1-4 with a 4.71 ERA. NYCBL hitters tagged him at .313.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was just trying to throw the ball by guys,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d added Jurik. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think of a specific moment when things changed. My senior year I started changing speeds and using both sides of the plate.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jurik went 7-3 in 14 appearances for the Cardinals striking out 85 while walking\u00c2\u00a0 30 in 77 innings of work. Making the transition to pro ball didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to change his numbers. In July, he had one appearance where he tossed six shutout innings for the Gulf Coast Braves.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am not surprised by Dan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s success,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d noted Webster coach, Dave Brust. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He had an impressive strike out to walk ratio with us. He has the tools.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jurik represents the first MLB draft pick in the 60-year existence of St. John Fisher College.\u00c2\u00a0 Atlanta chose the 6\u00e2\u20ac\u21224? right-hander in the 25th round with 764th pick. He went 3-0 with the Gulf Coast Braves and earned the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitcher of the year honors.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t re-invent yourself because you are playing at a higher level,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jurik.<\/p>\n
For now, Jurik will return to the campus of St. John Fisher in Pittsford, New York and workout with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will probably start throwing again in November. I will need to find a part-time job for a little money.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jurik\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey in the pro ranks will continue next February. Maybe this time next year he won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need that part-time job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Vestal, New York to Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia and stops in between, Dan Jurik blazed a trail through minor league baseball this summer. The former St. John Fisher Cardinal and Webster Yankee listened to the Major League draft with his parents. When the moment came, and he heard his name called, Jurik embarked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,78],"tags":[8521,11094,631,11092,6630,11089,10323,11093,8225,6538,1424,6631,6628,11091,1821,11088,8218,1170,11090,8222],"class_list":["post-8159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-minors","tag-appalachian-league","tag-atlanta-georgia","tag-batting-average","tag-bright-lights","tag-collegiate-baseball-league","tag-danville-braves","tag-good-chance","tag-gulf-coast","tag-john-fisher","tag-league-draft","tag-minor-league-baseball","tag-new-york-collegiate-baseball","tag-new-york-collegiate-baseball-league","tag-professional-level","tag-right-hander","tag-rome-braves","tag-st-john-fisher","tag-top-prospects","tag-turner-field","tag-vestal-new-york"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}