Kevin Gowdy’s tweet said it all: “Dream come true.”
The recent Santa Barbara High graduate became a professional baseball player on Wednesday as he and the Philadelphia Phillies came to terms on a contract.
Gowdy, a 6-4 right-handed pitcher, received a $3.5 million signing bonus. He is the first local baseball player to sign a pro baseball contract out of high school in several years. Gowdy had a scholarship to UCLA.
The Phillies selected Gowdy as the first pick of the second round (42nd pick overall) of the Major League Baseball Draft.
Gowdy told Noozhawk on Thursday that signing a pro contract was like icing on the cake.
"It was pretty exciting. That's something I've worked for," he said. "Getting drafted was pretty cool and for (signing the contract) to actually happen made it that much better."
Gowdy said he and No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak will begin playing in a rookie league in Clearwater, Fla.
The Phillies are excited to have Gowdy in their system.
“He’s a young right-handed pitcher who has the ability to command the baseball at such a young age,” Phillies scouting director Johnny Almarez said of Gowdy after the team drafted him. “He has an above-average fastball and good breaking stuff. I’m a believer you can’t teach somebody how to pitch. He’s got that innate ability to pitch and get hitters out and that’s what we want in this organization, frontline pitchers.”
Gowdy was at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia when he tweeted his big news.
He is friends with Moniak, of La Costa Canyon, who signed with the Phillies on Monday and received a reported bonus of $6.1 million.
Moniak raved about Gowdy's stuff during his press conference on Tuesday, saying he has a "great fastball" and "some of the best off-speed stuff in the [draft] class by far."
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
