Jason Szuminski

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked San Diego Padres #28 prospect in 2004
  Szuminski has had to overcome long odds just to have a professional baseball career. The second player ever drafted out of MIT, he attended college on an Air Force ROTC scholarship that mandated military service after he graduated with an aerospace engineering degree. He became the first baseball player to enter the Air Force's World Class Athlete Program, which allowed him to train with the goal of reaching the 2004 Olympics. Though that dream ended when Team USA failed to qualify for the Athens Games, his baseball career likely will be spared because he was taken in the major league Rule 5 draft. The Royals drafted him from the Cubs, who had too much pitching to protect Szuminski, and traded him to San Diego for fellow Rule 5 pick Rich Thompson. The Padres can't send Szuminski to the minors in 2004 without having him clear waivers and then offering him back to Chicago, and if he sticks it would be a public-relations boon for the Air Force. He made great progress in 2003, moving from high Class A to Triple-A after dropping his arm angle. He sacrificed velocity for better command and life on his fastball. Szuminski's fastball now sits at 88 mph and tops out at 91, but its improved sink gets lots of groundballs. He also scrapped his curveball and now throws a slider, which has been more effective. He also has a splitter that drops straight down, and all three of his pitches feature different types of movement. If Szuminski throws strikes, he should be able to make the Padres in spring training.