Wil Myers’ debut in Burlington

from Bob Sutton at the The Burlington Times News and you can catch it all at www.thetimesnews.com(Just click on SPORTS):

The results weren’t all that kind to Wil Myers in his professional debut for the Burlington Royals but the rest of Tuesday night seemed to go OK.

Myers, a third-round draft choice from Thomasville, made a much-awaited return to the baseball diamond in the Royals’ 6-2 loss to the Pulaski Mariners at Burlington Athletic Stadium.

“I was real excited for the game,” Myers said. “It was good to see live pitching again. It was kind of a long time since I’ve seen live pitching.”

Myers went 0-for-4, perhaps the only downer for the 20-plus friends and family who came to watch. He was a draft holdout until agreeing to a signing bonus of $2 million and becoming eligible to don a professional uniform.

He was used as the designated hitter, batting in the fifth spot in Burlington’s order, and he’s expected to play catcher later in the week. He was one of the first players out of the clubhouse for Tuesday night’s game.

“I like to be on the field a lot,” he said. “It has been three months since I have played, so I just wanted to get out there.”

Andre David, minor league hitting coordinator for Kansas City, said he liked Myers’ aggressive swings at the plate.

“He looked real comfortable and relaxed,” David said. “He has some bat speed. He’ll fit right in.”

For the record, Myers’ first professional at-bat resulted in a check-swing groundout to shortstop on a 2-1 pitch to end the first inning against Pulaski starter Brandon Maurer, a 19-year-old right-hander who improved his record to 3-4.

Myers grounded out again to shortstop in the fourth before hitting into a ground-ball double play to end the sixth. He struck out on a called third strike to lead off the ninth.

Royals manager Nelson Liriano said it was an encouraging debut for Myers, 18.

“One thing I really like about him is he swings the bat in good positions,” Liriano said. “He had a good idea in the strike zone and he was aggressive. He looked ready to hit good pitches.”

Myers said he wasn’t nervous because “I’ve had a million at-bats in my life. I’m just ready to get started.”

One thought on “Wil Myers’ debut in Burlington

Comments are closed.