Cochise's Bavera drafted by Royals in 33rd round

Former Cochise College pitcher Claudio Bavera was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the Major League Baseball draft last week, but he was far from the first person to find out.

“I was asleep, and my friends came running in yelling that I had been drafted,” Bavera said. “I said, ‘Come on, quit joking around.’”

His friends had been following the draft feed on the Internet, and sure enough, when Bavera checked his phone, he found a voicemail from a Kansas City scout telling him the team had used its 33rd-round pick (992nd overall) on the left-handed hurler.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Bavera, a Monagas, Valenzuela native, who admitted that he had started to give up hope on being drafted when he didn’t receive a call during the first two days of the draft.

Cochise head coach Todd Inglehart said he wasn’t surprised Bavera was nabbed, and added that it’s his elusive fastball that brought the scouts and their radar guns to the park whenever the southpaw took to the hill.

“The thing about his fastball is that it’s never straight,” the Apache coach said. “He has a lot of strength behind it and it’s always dipping or turning away, and he has a very hard breaking ball.”

Inglehart said Bavera’s fastball normally hovers around the 85-87 miles-per-hour range but has topped out at 91.

Bavera was among the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference’s top pitchers this season. He was third in the conference in earned-run average (1.51) and finished tied for first in wins (10) with South Mountain’s Kyle Ottoson. Bavera was fourth in strikeouts (84) while pitching more innings (87) than anyone in the conference.

Bavera, who said he is “definitely going to sign” with the Royals, is keeping his game sharp this summer by pitching for the semi-pro Santa Maria Packers of the California Collegiate League.

He said he has learned a great deal from Santa Maria pitching coach Bryn Smith, who spent 13 seasons as a pitcher in the Major Leagues and recorded the first-ever win for the Colorado Rockies on April 9, 1993.

“I’ve really been working out hard with (Smith),” the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Bavera said.

“He has a lot of experience, and he’s really helping me with my mechanics.”

Smith, a control pitcher who won 108 games with the Cardinals and Expos, has been impressed with Bavera’s positive attitude and work ethic.

“I really like his makeup,” Smith said. “He seems like a kid that wants to learn the game. ... He was extremely excited about getting drafted.”

Smith said he has spent the first part of the season working with Bevara on his changeup, a pitch Inglehart said was “average” during the early part of his career at Cochise but got better toward the end of last season.

“We’ve been working on his delivery,” Smith said. “Basically we are trying to get his arm slot in one spot.”

In a season that is just underway, Bavera has pitched 3.1 innings for the Packers, striking out three while allowing zero runs.

Inglehart knows that the road through baseball’s minor league system can be an arduous one, but he thinks Bavera has the tools to produce a lengthy professional career.

“Because he’s left-handed and already has two solid pithces, I don’t think his will be a short-term stay,” Inglehart said. “I think he has a chance to pitch for a while.”

His college coach also said Bavera has the personality to handle the struggles and frustrations that can sometimes accompany the minor-league path.

“He is one of the better teammates we had,” Inglehart said. “He’s nothing but a great kid, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Smith knows that making it to the Big Show isn’t something most ballplayers get to experience, but said Bavera strikes him as a player that will take advantage of every opportunity he’s given.

“There’s no fast track, but as long as you have the attitude of ‘I’m going to keep this uniform until someone takes it away from me, good things will happen,’” he said. “But (Bavera) has a great makeup, and he’ll definitely take advantage of his chance.”