Stillwater’s Drew Gilbert expected to be first-round draft pick Sunday

Betsy Helfand, Pioneer Press
·4 min read
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Many, if not all, of the members of the current Stillwater High School baseball team were in attendance at Target Field in 2018 when Drew Gilbert pitched the Ponies to a state championship, dominating Minnetonka with a seven-inning, 15-strikeout shutout.

When the Ponies reached the state championship game again this year, it was Gilbert who FaceTimed the team while it was on the bus, phoning in to give the players a pep talk, much to their excitement.

“He’s never lost that connection to Stillwater or Minnesota,” Ponies coach Mike Parker said.

And that’s what will make Sunday even more special for the Stillwater community. Gilbert is expected to be selected in the first round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, which will begin at 6 p.m. CT and be televised on MLB Network and ESPN.

Much has changed in the few years since Gilbert has left Stillwater. For starters, he was a two-way player in high school, and Parker said that back in the day he was a much more dominant pitcher than he was hitter. Since then, he established himself as one of the best hitters in college baseball. He has pitched just 16 1/3 innings in college, at the University of Tennessee, and will be drafted as a center fielder.

Though he no longer is a pitcher, the same drive that made him one of the best in the state as a high schooler remains.

When he was a sophomore and Parker told him he might not be a starting pitcher that year because the team had a glut of talented arms, Gilbert went out and posted a 0.66 earned-run average, becoming one of the Ponies’ top pitchers.

Years later, he told his coach that he had worked all year to prove him wrong.

“His determination is kind of what separates him from any other baseball player that I’ve seen,” Parker said. “He just has this high level of intensity that although he can be really laid back off the field, whenever it involves baseball, whether in practice or in the weight room, he goes harder than anybody, and I really think he will move through the minor leagues, I think pretty fast, just because his determination is different than other people.”

That determination and hard work paid off this year during a junior season in which he hit .362 for the No. 1-ranked Volunteers, with 11 home runs and 21 doubles in 57 games. He slugged .673, more than .200 points higher than he did a year ago, and finished the season with a 1.128 OPS.

When Twins vice president of amateur scouting Sean Johnson saw Gilbert play at the Shriners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston this spring, he was struck by his size.

“I barely recognized him,” Johnson said of Gilbert, who is listed at 5 feet 9, 185 pounds. “… (Gilbert) had bulked up but he still can run and throw and he plays a pretty good center field. He did all the things I know we like: He swung the bat well, he didn’t strike out a lot, hit for some power. So, I think he’s going to go Day 1, would be my guess, on the first night. I would feel pretty good saying that.”

Johnson and the Twins actually drafted Gilbert once, selecting him in the 35th round of the 2019 draft. At that point, it was understood that Gilbert was planning on going to college — initially he was headed to Oregon State before decommitting and heading to Tennessee.

This time around, the Twins have the No. 8 pick in the draft and Gilbert is expected to come off the board late in the first round. Baseball America had the 21-year-old going at No. 27 to the Milwaukee Brewers. MLB.com’s penultimate mock draft had Gilbert going 22nd overall to the St. Louis Cardinals.

But no matter when his name is called, his Stillwater community will be ready.

“It’s really exciting, not only for me but for everybody that’s part of Stillwater baseball,” Parker said. “Everybody’s been rooting for Drew over the past three years at college, and people are really excited around here.”

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