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Seeing Red:

Sports

Friday, 10 June 2011 11:52

News-Gazette Photo/Ken Jackson

Former Poinciana High pitcher Jimmy Moran shakes hands with Cincinnati Reds Florida Scouting Supervisor Greg Zunino after Moran signed a contract with the Reds at his parents home in Davenport Thursday.

Jimmy Moran drafted by Cincinnati; signs

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
Jimmy Moran’s 21st birthday held a range of emotions. It had nothing to do with a party.
Tuesday also was Draft Day in Major League Baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds took Moran, a 2008 alum of Poinciana High School, in the 18th round.

The righty, who had another year of eligibility left at the University of South Florida, signed with the Reds on Thursday. He leaves for a mini-camp in Arizona on Sunday, and on June 18 he will report to the Billings Mustangs of the Class A Pioneer League.
Moran said that waiting for the phone to ring – and if it would ring at all – made it tough to celebrate his birthday at the family’s house with his parents Antoinette and Jim, who coached Jimmy at Poinciana.
“I had contact with about 25 teams, and closer contact with about four or five the week of the draft,” he said. “This is the culmination of all the work I’ve done, and it’s a dream come true that starts today,” he said Thursday.
Jim Moran said that it feels like a lifetime since Jimmy first took the mound as a PHS freshman seven springs ago.
“He hit six guys that day. As a parent you have to be supportive but as a coach I’m wondering, ‘What have I done here?” he said. “If you told me back then that he’d be eventually signing a professional contract, I probably would have thought you were nuts.
“But the kid has worked his behind off. This has been his dream, and he’s worked toward the dream. I’m walking on a cloud here.”
This season, in mostly set-up work out of the bullpen, Moran posted a 4-1 record for USF with a 3.91 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 21 innings. He was 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 30 innings as a sophomore. He pitched for a year at the College of Baltimore-Catonsville as a freshman after his Poinciana career, when he was a two-time all-county pitcher.
The last week was a whirlwind, Moran said.
“The signing had me anxious, my biggest concern now is the travel,” he said. “I don’t know a thing about Billings. I hope they have a Walmart or something.”
In Billings, he’ll be facing a lot of newly drafted college players like himself — and since they’ll be swinging wood bats instead of the aluminum that Moran’s been up against all his life, the playing field is leveled.
“It’s a small step, but each step hopefully to the big leagues will be steeper,” he said.
Greg Zunino, the Reds’ Florida Scouting Supervisor, signed Moran.
“The fact that his family’s been around the game and this process makes it easier of course,” he said, giving a nod to Jim Moran’s time spent in scouting roles for a couple of Major League teams. “Physically, he has a good arm and solid delivery. Once he fills out his body a little bit, he has a chance to have a good pro career.”
Jimmy Moran said he isn’t concerned that he’s about to begin his first minor-league season having already pitched the season for the Bulls. Coming out of the bullpen exclusively kept his arm fresh.
“Plus there aren’t the distractions of college now. Before, it was wake up, class, weights, tutors, then to practice or play,” he said. “Now it’s wake up, eat, go to the park. I can’t wait for it to start.”