Published: June 29, 2009 11:59 pm      

McEachern honored by opening day start

PRINCETON — It was more than a week into the season before Jason McEachern took the mound in his first year with Princeton in 2008.

There was no wait this season. McEachern drew the opening day assignment for Princeton last Tuesday, working five scoreless innings, as the Rays earned a 10-inning 2-1 win over the Burlington Royals.

“That was a great honor, I wasn’t expecting it, I found out about it the week before,” said the 18-year-old McEachern. “I came out here, and I remembered the mound was still 60 foot, 6 inches (from home plate), just like last year.

“It was a great honor. I’m glad I got it and I’m glad I got a little bit of success.”

McEachern has seemingly had nothing but success since being drafted by Tampa Bay last June in the 13th round (383rd overall) out of St. Stephens High School in Hickory, N.C.

He didn’t do bad before signing either, posting 11 wins and a 0.97 earned-run average, along with leading the state with 140 strikeouts as a prep senior. One of the youngest players taken in the ’08 draft, he left a scholarship to Wingate College on the table and decided to ink with the Rays.

It was a success, as McEachern posted a 3-0 record and a 1.44 earned run average in nine games, including two starts, last season for the Rays. Those type of numbers usually demand a promotion, but McEachern found himself back with Princeton. It wasn’t a letdown.

“I caught a couple of breaks last year, but it didn’t really matter where I was going,” said McEachern, who works under the tutelage of former major league pitching coach Marty “Dog” DeMerritt, who serves in the same role with Princeton. “Just getting some playing time, just being back with ‘Dog,’ that is a great thing, you can’t get much better than that.

“Princeton is a nice town and it’s nice to be back.”

McEachern didn’t get into a game until June 30 last season. He promptly earned the win with two scoreless innings on the mound. He also won his first start, allowing one hit and no runs in five innings on Aug. 14 at Bristol.

“It took about six weeks before I got into the swing of things, but once I did, it just kind of fell back in,” said McEachern, who fanned 16, walked eight, and allowed just 17 hits in 25 innings for the Rays as a 17-year-old last season. “I’m glad to be here again.”

He might not last long. McEachern, who worked six innings, allowing three hits and five strikeouts in Princeton’s 12-inning win Sunday at Bristol, has an 0.82 ERA, permitting just one earned run and six hits in 11 frames on the mound, striking out nine and walking none.

Not that he’s looking to leave.

“Whatever they feel is best for me,” McEachern said. “As long as I’m on the hump, it doesn’t really matter.”

McEachern is especially excited to be part of the surging Tampa Bay organization. After not winning more than 70 games in 10 previous seasons, the prospect-laden big club finished with 97 last year and didn’t stop winning until the World Series.

“The talent and the coaches in this organization are phenomenal,” McEachern said. “The best coaches are looking out for your best interests, and our major league team doesn’t go out and buy people, they are home grown.

“They grow them from all the way down at Gulf Coast (League) to Princeton and Hudson Valley, all the way up to Durham and especially Tampa. That’s awesome just being in an organization like that. They take care of you, they do what is best for your interests. It’s a great organization to be in.”

McEachern, who won’t turn 19 until Oct. 12, figures he’ll be a part of the Tampa Bay organization for a long time before reaching his ultimate goal, but he’s working towards it every day.

“The idea with everybody here is to work everyday and continue to get better,” McEachern said. “Don’t let one day go by where somebody else might do a little more than you and go up the ladder faster than you.

“It’s such a long journey right now, I’m just trying to stay healthy.”

McEachern is already the 29th ranked player in the Tampa Bay organization, according to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

“I still have a long way to go. I remember last year one of the comments the radio announcer made is it looked like I was swimming in my jersey, and I wanted to try and change that,” said McEachern, who is 6-foot-2, but weighs less than 175 pounds. “I’ve put on a couple of pounds of weight, but I’ve still got a long way to go. Being 18, I have a long journey ahead of me.”

Determined to add strength and weight to his slender frame, McEachern began working in earnest for this season when the calendar turned to ‘09.

“You’ve got to start working out and throwing in January, that is when the throwing program started,” McEachern said. “Other than that, I was trying to get in the weight room and trying to fill out my jersey.”

He arrived for extended spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla. on March 4. From then until June 19 when the bus pulled into Hunnicutt Field, McEachern did little other than play baseball.

“You play baseball every single day, you work on things, it’s very repetitive, but that is a huge part of being a pitcher,” McEachern said. “It’s not only if you throw 90 and you throw it on the corners, if you can’t field your position you’re not going anywhere.”

After all those repetitive days under the warm Florida sun and with no fans in the stands, it’s no wonder McEachern was glad to be back in Princeton.

“I think I counted 106 days there of continuous baseball,” McEachern said. “Now you come here and you’re finally playing under the lights and the adrenaline really gets pumping. It was great opening night, what was it, 1,950-some fans or something like that, that is a nice game to pitch in...

“It’s three months of being in spring training extended just getting experience in, working my pitch count up and finally getting to five innings or 75 pitches. That is an awesome feeling to just go out there and throw for those fans.”

Being a professional baseball player isn’t glamorous at the minor league level, especially in Rookie League ball. Yet, riding the buses through the Appalachian League is part of the sacrifice that must be made to make it big.

“What sunk in during extended spring training is being gone from my family for three months, I haven’t done that before,” McEachern said. “You have to grow up quick here. I’m getting into the swing of things with baseball everyday, but you’re always going to have some down times where you’re thinking about your family or your girlfriend at home.”

When those thoughts come, McEachern often turns to a higher power.

“It’s tough, but you just have to pray to God that He’s going to pull you in the right direction,” McEachern said. “He’s never going to give you more than you can handle in one day, which is a good thing.”

— E-mail: bwoodson@bdtonline.com