Delaware's Yezzo Set For Pro Debut
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It should be a special night on Monday for Bishop Eustace Prep High School graduate and University of Delaware product Jimmy Yezzo. The first-baseman is ready to make his pro debut for the Single-A Auburn (NY) Doubledays of the New York-Penn League, a little more than a week after being selected in the 7th round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.
Yezzo put together a season for the ages as a junior at Delaware. He started all 55 games for the Blue Hens in 2013, leading the Colonial Athletic Association in batting average (.410), hits (96), doubles (28) and RBI (64). All that production earned him plenty of attention from scouts and he says he knew he had peaked the interest of the Nats.
"I wasn't too surprised (that Washington drafted him)," Yezzo tells KYW Newsradio. "I talked with them a little bit. I'd worked out for them about a week before the draft. You know I was just excited to get that call on draft day."
Jimmy Yezzo Interview
A left-handed hitter, Yezzo can hit the ball out of the ballpark. He was second on the Blue Hens this past season with 13 home runs. But he says he doesn't necessarily consider himself a power hitter.
"More of a gap-to-gap guy," Yezzo says. "I'll get into one once in a while, but for the most part in the gaps and then if I get a hold of one it will carry over the wall."
While many would-be draftees choose not to watch the draft under the old "watched pot never boils" theory, Yezzo says he tuned in and saw his magic moment.
"I had a couple buddies I was looking for, looking to see their names pop up, too," Yezzo says. "So I was watching it the whole time for my own purposes, but then also to see where my other buddies went."
Yezzo was one of four Delaware players drafted earlier this month. The others were RHP Chad Kuhl (9th round - Pirates), RHP Matt Soren (19th round - Phillies) and OF Nick Ferdinand (35th round - Phillies).
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw
