Stewart, Son Of A Scout, Gets The Call

The story of Brock Stewart’s rise from high Class A to L.A. in less than a year is a good one, from a baseball standpoint. The story of how one scout father handled his son’s looming pro career is a complex one that every son who followed his father into business can understand.

Brock Stewart’s dad Jeff is currently a pro scout for the Rays and the former head coach at Illinois State, where Brock played, although the two were not at Illinois State together.

Brock was originally drafted out of Normal (Ill.) Community West High in 2010 in the 40th round by the Mets as an infielder, primarily a shortstop. He had also pitched but not much as a senior after he strained his subscapularis (shoulder) muscle playing basketball. He ended up pitching in a championship game and, expected to go one inning, ended up pitching six.

That performance piqued the interest of then-Illinois State coach Mark Kingston—now the coach at South Florida—who Jeff Stewart hired as an assistant for the Redbirds and who had known Brock since he was a little kid.

But Kingston wanted Brock as a two-way guy.

“I told Mark, ‘That’s not a great idea. I wouldn’t multi-task him, he’s not that sharp,” Jeff Stewart said with a laugh Monday between games of a doubleheader in Oklahoma City. “He needs to get his academics going.”

“(Brock) was a very talented baseball athlete,” Kingston said. “He played the outfield and was a middle infielder. He was like the college version of Ben Zobrist.”

Stewart threw just one inning as a sophomore when he sustained a Lisfranc injury in the middle of his left foot. The next year was a grind to get healthy, Jeff Stewart said, but by fall ball Brock was in pitching shape. Stewart was going to pitch in relief, but the Redbirds had a solid closer. Brock ended up throwing just 26 innings as a redshirt junior, but really played wherever Kingston needed him.

Brock Stewart primarily played third base in 2014, but he made one start and fortuitously it came against Wichita State and Casey Gillaspie in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. In front of several area scouts and crosscheckers, Stewart limited the Shockers to two hits and one run in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one.

“He pitched toward the end of his college career,” Kingston said, “and we were at the point of the season where we thought he gave us the best chance to win. By that time, people had figured out that if Brock was going to move on to a pro career, pitching was going to give him the best chance to be elevated.

“It just happened it was at the best time and the right time.”

That kind of performance in that kind of setting put Brock Stewart on the radar of many teams, including his father’s Padres. And that put Jeff Stewart in a bind.

“It’s tough being the son of a coach or son of a scout,” Jeff Stewart said. “Because when they accomplish something, someone says, ‘his dad’s a coach, his dad’s a scout.’

“I want my kids to cut their own path.”

Kingston was not surprised by his former boss’ stance.

“I’ve known the Stewarts since the late 1990s, and I knew Brock as a little child, so I knew when Brock got the chance (to be drafted), Jeff’s preference was that it would be another team.”

That preference was put to a big test when then-Padres scouting director Billy Gasparino came to Jeff Stewart to ask for his assessment of the Illinois State righthander who caused a stir at the MVC tournament.

“I downplayed him,” Jeff Stewart said. “I told Billy, ‘Billy, he’s better than where I’ve got him. He throws strikes, he’s been up to 95, he’s going to be OK. I’d just like us not to take him. I put him in as this and he’s better than that.

“‘You do what you want with Brock, but I’d like him to cut his own path,'” he told Gasparino, now with the Dodgers.

“I think if you asked Brock, he’ll tell you I told him the same thing,” Jeff Stewart said. “(The Padres) respected it.”

Gasparino said he respected Stewart’s approach.

“He could not have handled his son’s situation more beautifully,” Gasparino said. “I give him a lot of credit for how he handled the whole situation. (Jeff) gave an honest, accurate opinion, while still being very supportive (of Brock).”

It wasn’t something Jeff Stewart did lightly. He had seen what happened when kids of scouts and coaches were perceived to get better treatment. He was the head coach at Illinois State from 1989-2002 before leaving to become a scout with the Padres, who drafted Stewart’s other son, Luke, in the 42nd round in 2006—although Luke didn’t sign.

It’s not as though teams shy from drafting players with connections in their organizations. The Braves last year drafted John Stewart—son of the scout of the same name—in the 40th round, but he did not sign. A.J. Schugel’s dad Jeff has been a scout for three decades. Then White Sox in 1993 drafted Carey Schueler, the daughter of then-general manager Ron Schueler—in the 43rd round. In 2012 alone, the Red Sox drafted J.T. Watkins, son of scout Danny; The Mariners in the 34th round drafted Alex Ross, son of Northwest area scout Joe; and the Angels took Justin Morhardt, the son of national crosschecker Greg, although Ross and Morhardt did not sign.

But that wasn’t to be the case for the Stewarts.

“As a kid, (Brock) and the other Stewart boys, they knew they wouldn’t play for the old man,” Jeff Stewart said.

As for Brock’s big league debut, even Jeff Stewart seemed surprised by its suddenness.

“I thought he had a chance to pitch in the big leagues, certainly, but I thought it might be in the ‘pen. He’s on a starter track now.”

Still, Jeff Stewart wouldn’t do anything different. Brock Stewart, in the words of his father, has cut his own path.

“I think Jeff wanted Brock to get an opportunity to stand on his own,” Kingston said. “I think it’s worked out for the best.”

Gasparino agreed.

“As it turns out the whole industry was light on him,” he said. “(The Padres) should have taken him. It’s our fault, but it all worked out now because I’m with the Dodgers.”