After RHP Roberto Hernandez left the Mets in the off-season to sign
with the Cleveland Indians, the Mets received a “sandwich round” pick
in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft (the sandwich round takes place
between the draft’s first and second rounds). The club used that pick,
42nd overall, to take RHP Eddie Kunz out of Oregon State University.
Kunz signed with the team on July 24th and was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones. He made his pro debut with the Cyclones on Saturday, tossing a scoreless ninth against the Oneonta Tigers to secure a 7-2 victory. GBM Staffer Scott Dratell spoke with Eddie after his second appearance as a Cyclone on Monday afternoon.
Scott Drattell: You’ve been with the Cyclones for a couple of days now. What has the experience been like so far?
Eddie Kunz: Really positive. We’ve got a great group of guys here; it’s definitely been a lot of fun these last couple of days. Coming in here having not been part of the team, everyone’s been my friend, helping me out any way they can. It’s really just a great bunch of guys here.
SD: You made your pro debut as a Cyclone on Saturday. What was that experience like for you?
EK: It was definitely a lot of fun. I was really excited to go out there and throw for my first time. And going out there, we had a big lead, but I just wanted to go out there and work on my stuff and kind of get settled in a little bit. And that’s the same thing I did tonight, they put me out there just to try and get settled in, get used to Brooklyn a little bit, and it’ll be the same thing when I come back next time.
SD: You won back-to-back national championships at Oregon State, so obviously you were pitching against some of the top players in college baseball. How would you say the competition compares here in the New York-Penn League?
EK: It’s definitely right about the same. There are a lot of guys who battle really well and see a lot of different pitches and take a lot of stuff – they’re not used to seeing perfect stuff every time, so you just have to get used to it.
SD: There’s only about a month left in the NYPL season. What do you hope to accomplish in your short time left here?
EK: I just want to help out any way I can with the team, whether they want me to close, whether they want me to set-up, whatever they want me to do, it doesn’t matter. I just want to come out and get these guys a couple more wins and hopefully make the postseason and win a championship.
SD: Now going back a few months ago, what was the draft like? What was going through your head during that whole process?
EK: Nothing, really. I didn’t really bother too much with it. I was more focused on our team [Oregon State] and whether or not we were going to make the playoffs. And then once we finally got to the playoffs and the draft showed up, I was definitely really excited. I had no clue I was going to get picked up in the first round or anywhere near there, so that did kind of surprise me a little bit, and I was really excited along with my family and everybody else.
SD: Was there any specific team you were hoping to go to?
EK: I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get picked up and go out and kind of move on past college to the pros and hopefully make it up someday to the show.
SD: Speaking of the show, where do see yourself five, ten years down the road?
EK: Hopefully at Shea Stadium playing up there, or at the new Citibank stadium, whatever it is, that’d be nice.
SD: How about after baseball?
EK: After baseball, I’ll retire if I still have a job [in baseball], but I’m about ten credits away from getting my degree in Health Administration so maybe I’ll pursue that. But until that road comes I don’t know yet.
SD: What got you into baseball growing up? Who was your idol?
EK: My idol was definitely my father. He pushed me and taught me to just never quit, and then I started playing baseball and just kind of fell in love and kept getting better and better at it. There was also my cousin, Vinnie Henderson, who played with the Toronto Blue Jays in their Triple-A system for a little while, and he kind of pushed me through a little bit too and helped me a lot. Those two have been two of the biggest people to come through and push me through this now and make me what I am today.
SD: When did you realize that playing professionally could be a reality for you?
EK: Really not until these last couple of years. I know a couple of guys were looking at me in high school but I knew I was going to go to college. Then once I got into college and started playing I saw scouts following me, but I wasn’t really paying attention to all that. It wasn’t really until draft day when all of a sudden five or six scouts were calling me to ask me all these questions and it kind of clicked in my head a little bit before I realized that I’m actually going to get to play in the big leagues in a little while.
