Trey Ball doesn’t want to just reach the majors. He wants to leave his mark.
Ball, who was drafted seventh overall by Boston in 2013, had an up-and-down first two seasons in the Red Sox system. The left-handed pitcher’s confidence hasn’t wavered, though, and his ultimate goal reflects his desire to succeed.
“My goal is to reach the Hall of Fame,” Ball recently told the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato in Fort Myers, Fla.
Obviously, Ball has a ways to go before punching his ticket to Cooperstown. The 20-year-old isn’t even close to sniffing the majors at this point, though Boston has high hopes for the young southpaw, who was the organization’s highest draft pick since Trot Nixon was selected seventh overall in 1993.
Ball, who struggled in five rookie ball starts in 2013, went 5-10 with a 4.68 ERA in 22 starts with Single-A Greenville last season. The occasional woes might be enough to cool the hype surrounding Ball, to some extent, but they did little to convince the lefty he doesn’t have a future as a pitcher.
There was talk when the Red Sox drafted Ball — a pitcher and an outfielder in high school — that he could go the path of Casey Kelly and be afforded an opportunity to showcase his skills as both a pitcher and position player. The Red Sox made it clear they planned to groom Ball as a hurler, though, and his strong second half in 2014 suggests there’s plenty of potential through that avenue.
“There were a lot of different people who thought I was going to be a hitter,” Ball told Mastrodonato. “I was open to whoever picked me, whatever they wanted. I loved doing both. I had no idea until they said pitcher, so I was happy with that.”
Ball’s aspirations clearly are sky-high, regardless of his position on the diamond. The Red Sox certainly would be happy if Ball simply took a step forward in 2015, but it’s encouraging to know he has lofty expectations at an early stage of his baseball career.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@South_paw24
