Scott Bandura Is Prepared For a Greater Stage

Out of all 323 gamers who attended final week’s MLB Draft Combine, I used to be solely aware of a couple of earlier than setting foot in Arizona. I’d watched highlights of some highschool prospects, caught a number of faculty gamers on TV. But the primary participant on the mix I’d seen in individual was neither an all-SEC participant nor a highschool showcase monster, however a junior outfielder from Princeton University named Scott Bandura.

If you had been conscious of baseball and had fundamental cable in the summertime of 2014, you’ve most likely seen him play too.

One of my first large journeys as a younger reporter was to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 2014. There I witnessed the largest media circus of any Little League World Series since. That 12 months, the Taney Dragons, of close by Philadelphia, made a run to the nationwide semifinal behind star pitcher Mo’ne Davis. Bandura was Taney’s catcher and leadoff hitter again then. Now, he’s attempting to make the bounce to professional ball.

Also, sure, the Robert Hassell SportsHeart references is similar man who received drafted no. 8 total in 2020 and is now a Nationals prospect. Fellow 2020 first-rounder Ed Howard additionally performed in that Little League World Series, as did a couple of different gamers who’ve gone on to play faculty or minor league baseball.

“The cool thing for me is I wasn’t the best player,” Bandura says. “I was 5-foot-2, 80 pounds, in the leadoff spot, getting on base by any means necessary. I had a good eye and could walk a bunch, hit a bunch of singles. Those guys were huge and dropping bombs at 12. It was awesome to watch the gap close as time went on and I continued to develop. Now we’re on the same level.”

Bandura says the Little League World Series is usually a distant reminiscence for him now; clearly no one who’s scouting him in 2023 cares what sort of participant he was as in center college.

“Nowadays, I don’t talk about it a whole lot, just because it was so long ago,” he says. But his journey to Williamsport did turn out to be related in an interview with the Blue Jays. “We were talking about growing up, and how you handle pressure and all that stuff. Like, I was thrown in front of 40,000 fans at 13. The reporters, questions, everything, I was exposed to that really early. So at this point, no moment is too big.”

Bandura’s quarter-hour of fame could also be nearly a decade prior to now, however the truth that he’s performed below that stage of scrutiny earlier than provides him a leg up on principally each different participant on the mix. Nobody else within the draft, apart from possibly the gamers who attended large SEC colleges and and went to the College World Series ultimate, has ever performed in video games that large.

“Every team that goes there has some type of impostor syndrome. Like, ‘How did we get here? These teams are way better than us,’” Bandura says. “So I’m going out there leading off the game against Blake Money from Tennessee, who’s at LSU now, he’s going to be drafted this year. They were loaded. The adrenaline takes over, and I’m in the on-deck circle as he’s warming up and the catcher’s throwing the ball down to second. Then it’s like, ‘I actually have to go get in the box now.’ ”

That sport led to Davis’ historic complete-game shutout win. Taney gained as soon as extra earlier than Davis’ subsequent begin, the 8-1 loss to Nevada that I went to. But thanks largely to the media circus round Davis, they nonetheless grew to become nationwide information and native heroes.

I’ve a tough time describing what a giant deal the Taney Little League group was within the Philadelphia sports scene, as a result of my trustworthy evaluation makes me sound like a lunatic. The proximity of Philadelphia to Williamsport, and the truth that many of the native professional groups had been terrible in 2014, made this thrilling group of center schoolers extremely simple to latch on to.

Bandura says that within the relative isolation of the gamers’ lodging in Williamsport, he had no thought what was occurring within the outdoors world. By the time they realized, regional and nationwide media had been already in a frenzy.

“When we came home, we were blown away by how the city attached itself to us,” he says. “We knew we were having a parade, but Broad Street was packed. Like, this was all for us. We had no idea what was going on. And once we got home, it was a whirlwind of appearances. Obviously, Mo’ne was huge. Being lifelong friends with Mo’ne, and I was also the catcher on that team, so I got to do a lot of cool stuff with her. So yeah, it was a whirlwind for six, eight months after that.”

Having that have in his again pocket, Bandura’s needed to carry out on a stage the likes of which few gamers on this class can ponder, which is sweet. But no one, least of all Bandura, needs to have peaked in junior excessive. So in an effort to prime his journey to Williamsport, he has to attempt to make it within the execs.

Is that lifelike?

Bandura is now listed at 6-foot-4, 190 kilos and appears each bit like a future large leaguer bodily. This season was a breakout marketing campaign for the Philadelphia native, who hit .363/.454/.665 in 47 video games for Princeton, together with 12 house runs and 15 stolen bases. With just one full season on the Ivy League stage below his belt, Bandura doesn’t have an extended monitor report to pore over; the Ivy League canceled its 2021 baseball season, and Bandura performed simply eight video games his sophomore 12 months. But he has made temporary appearances within the Cape Cod League every of the previous two seasons, and Princeton performed a tricky highway schedule that allowed Bandura to point out off for scouts.

“I was fortunate that I played well against the good teams when all the scouts were there,” Bandura says. “At University of Georgia I had a great weekend, then played pretty well at Duke. Then we had a midweek game against Rutgers this year; their center fielder is gonna be drafted pretty high, so there were probably 50 scouts at the game and I arguably had my best game of the year. Hit an opposite-field home run, threw a guy out, stole a base, went 4-for-5.”

Bandura additionally went 6-for-16 with three homers and two doubles in that season-opening four-game sequence at Georgia. In 4 video games in opposition to Penn, the group that beat Auburn and got here inside a pair innings of a brilliant regional, Bandura went 7-for-16 with two doubles and a house run.

In Phoenix, Bandura labored out on the primary day of the mix. He took a short time to settle in throughout BP, however made onerous line-drive contact in his second spherical. And in defensive outfield drills, he confirmed a robust, correct throwing arm. And though he received his first nationwide publicity as a catcher, outfield is the place Bandura will play going ahead.

“I came into high school at like, 5-foot-8, 115 pounds, and by my junior year I was 6-foot-3,” he says. “I was a good receiver, but as far as movements go I was a little awkward as a catcher. I’d always played outfield in games that I didn’t catch, so I was pretty comfortable there. And we had a good upperclassman catcher at my high school who was going to catch every game, so I moved out to the outfield and let the speed work.”

Bandura is an fascinating prospect; he’s lengthy and lean, like a participant who’s going to fill out and add extra energy, however he’s additionally nearly 22 years previous. And whereas he says he’s a complicated sufficient hitter to contribute within the minors shortly, Bandura believes protection might find yourself being his calling card.

“I have limited reps in the outfield,” he says. “Like, most guys have been playing out there for their entire lives; I made the switch three years ago. So I think of myself as a good defender, but I think I can be an elite center fielder with more reps and more reads out there, so that’s my biggest focus.”

“Elite center fielder” is a giant declare to make, notably for somebody who spent a variety of time within the corners in faculty. Nevertheless, Bandura believes he’ll get a shot to show himself.

“My college coach was a 10-year big leaguer, Scott Bradley, and he’s been talking like he’s not going to get me back,” Bandura says. “So I’m assuming he knows more than I do. I’m pretty confident that somebody will like me enough to take me, and I’m ready to go play.”