Thunder’s Cossetti hoping to hear name called in MLB Draft
Catcher set St. Joe’s single-season record for HR and RBI
TRENTON » Andrew Cossetti isn’t much of a stats guy.
After all, as he was once told, “stats aren’t in the batters’ box hitting the ball.”
While Cossetti may not obsess over his statistics, the folks who pick players in the MLB Draft do, and when they get a look at Cossetti’s numbers during his senior season at St. Joseph’s University then they are going to like what they see.
The 6-foot, 215-pound catcher slashed .327/.454/.714 with 19 HR and 65 RBI. His home run and RBI totals are both single-season records for the Atlantic 10 school, while his 43 career longballs is also the program’s all-time high.
“Maybe when this is all said and done I’ll look back and talk about it with my teammates,” said Cossetti, who posted a .293/.416/.600 slash with those 43 homers, 36 doubles and 143 RBI in 150 career games. “That was one of my goals going into St. Joe’s: to be one of the best players in the history of the program and I think I achieved that this year.”
The next step for the 22-year-old Cossetti, who was a two-time Philadelphia Catholic League Offensive Player of the Year at La Salle College High before heading off to St. Joe’s, is the MLB Draft.
To improve his draft stock, he’s with the Thunder in the MLB Draft League for the second consecutive summer.
“The main idea of this league is to prepare you for professional baseball,” Cossetti said on Tuesday before the Thunder opened a threegame set against Mahoning Valley. “(Manager Jeff Manto) does a great job of running it that way. It’s not run like a college program; it’s run like the pros where we got to take a lot of it into our own hands. He lets us have that freedom and we learn along the way what it’s like to be a professional.”
Cossetti hasn’t missed a beat through his first 21 games for the Thunder. He’s batting a team-best .400 (20-for-50) with six doubles, a triple, one home run and a 1.086 OPS.
“He’s just a professional hitter in everything he does,” Manto said. “He’s always involved with the at-bat. He adjusts to the atbat. He has a plan and sticks with his plan and there are times when he should be changing his plan and does so. For me, he’s truly an advanced hitter.”
Cossetti credits his approach to conversations he’s had with experienced coaches like longtime St. Joe’s manager Fritz Hamburg, hitting coach Ryan Wheeler and Manto here in Trenton. He then takes those pointers and put it together into his own philosophy.
It’s one that has matured as he’s gotten older.
“This year I learned that in baseball you got to take the little wins,” Cossetti said. “If you hit a ball hard, have a good at-bat or even put a good wing on a ball it’s a win. So if you hit a ball hard in the gap and it gets caught it is what it is.”
Manto pegs Cossetti as an occasional power guy who will drive in runs, which brings added value for a catcher.
“He’ll drive in runs because he’s a good hitter, but if you anticipate him hitting 25 or 30 home runs I think it’s the wrong guy,” Manto said. “You expect him to hit .280 and 15 or 20
that’s the right guy. You have to take into account that catching everyday will take something out of his legs.”
There is, however, no doubt that you are dealing with a future pro.
“If there are some better catchers out there,” Manto said, “I’d be surprised.”
Cossetti said he’s not trying to think too much about the draft, which runs from July 17-19 and has 20 rounds.
“You hear some things and you got to take everything with a grain of salt,” Cossetti said. “You never know what is true and what is not. Each day I control what I can control.” That’s playing baseball.
“Last year I would have given you a different answer and I would have been, ‘yeah, I’m thinking about it,’ and this year I’ve done everything I can do,” Cossetti said. “Now I’m just trying to have fun and play baseball for as long as I can. If my name is called then I’ll be excited and 100% ready to go play professional baseball and if not it’s back to the drawing board.”
There is one thing he’s 100% sure of. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life that I’m ready to play professional baseball,” Cossetti said.