Jul. 11—Mark Manfredi had no college offers coming out of high school.
He went to a community college and then COVID hit.
Then he tore his UCL and needed Tommy John surgery.
Everything was working against Mark Manfredi in his baseball journey.
Rather than throwing in the towel, the Mayfield alum buckled down and continued to work on his speed and delivery. He took over the No. 1 spot in the Dayton rotation as a senior and MLB scouts started to take notice.
The drive and determination to achieve his goals led to a life long dream being realized. On June 10, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Manfredi with the 272nd pick in the ninth round of the MLB draft. He’s the highest draft player in Dayton Flyer baseball history.
After two years on the mound for Mayfield, the lefty found himself wanting to continue his baseball journey but held zero offers. But that didn’t deter him from finding a way to continue his career on the diamond.
“Mayfield was a great experience and coach Rapposelli does a great job there,” Manfredi said. “After my senior year, I had no offers but I was working out at a facility in Aurora called Prospect Performance Academy and they got me in touch with Sinclair (Community College). I drove down there for a bullpen and was hitting in the low 80s. Coach Steve Dintaman gave me a chance and that was the start of the journey.”
He took his first year at Sinclair to work on his speed, where he reached 90 MPH and started to learn how to control his speed. He worked his way to the top spot of the rotation for Tartans and started to generate exposure from MLB teams.
Then COVID hit and Sinclair’s season was cut short. However, Manfredi had already made his commitment to Dayton from Sinclair during the fall season before the start of COVID and had a home for the 2021 season.
He arrived at Dayton and was on track to get some time in the pitching order, but during the winter was when he tore his UCL and needed Tommy John surgery. After the procedure, Mandredi had a long sit down with himself to decide what his future was going to be.
“I was down so bad after COVID and then the surgery,” Manfredi said. “I told myself I could either throw in the towel, have the surgery and be a normal person. Or you have option two where you can take the setback, change how you are as a pitcher and undergo a complete construction for however long I was going to be out. I chose the latter and rebuilt myself completely as a pitcher. I worked as much as I could, did seven months of physical therapy, did everything I could control. The timeline was for me to be out 12 to 15 months , I got back in eight and a half. My goal was to be ready for my second year there and was throwing innings in the fall.”
His hard work caught the eyes of the Dayton coaching staff and MLB scouts and when he took to the diamond his senior year, the heads continued to turn. In his senior year, he posted a 3-4 record and a 4.99 ERA but it was his command and strikeouts that caught everyone’s attention.
He racked up 96 strikeouts, which was third most in the Atlantic 10 and was tied for 66th in the nation. He knew that he had a chance to push for the lead in the conference but was pulled early in his start against Massachusetts to prepare him for the A-10 tournament.
What really helped his progression was he reworked his mechanics from the mound and added more pitches to his repertoire. He’s able to throw four pitches for strikes and developed his polish to have several different pitches in his bag.
“It makes a world of a difference and you can see it in the numbers,” Manfredi said. “If you have four pitches that the hitter needs to think about, it puts them on their heels and makes them now have to think even more while they’re in the box. It leads to a lot more uncomfortable at-bats and even more strikeouts for me. From the development perspective, it’s huge to have that variety when you get to the next level. If you’re a starter and have just two pitches, and one’s not on that day, they’re going to make it hurt .”
After a strong senior year, Manfredi made the jump to the Cape Cod League and put himself against some of the best college players there. In three starts, he gave up just four walks, struck out 16 and had a 2.10 ERA.
The end of the Cape season was when he started to get the feeling that his lifelong dream had a chance to come true. His moment came on July 10 when the Brewers came on the clock in the middle of the ninth round.
Manfredi isn’t satisfied. He knows it’s just the start for another chapter of his career and he’s ready to tackle that challenge.
“With the Cape Cod league, most everyone from there gets drafted and people see that as an equivalent of Low-A ball,” Manfredi said. “Transitioning into the minor-league system, I just need to continue to work on my game and find ways to get more comfortable with situations where I’m not comfortable yet. Making those next adjustments will help separate me from the other guys in the minor leagues. If I can get comfortable with throwing my stuff against hitters from both sides of the plate, it takes me to a level where I don’t know what the limit is.”