Strowd discusses return to Monongalia County Ballpark, pro career
GRANVILLE, W.Va. - On Friday night, right-handed pitcher Kade Strowd exited the bullpen and jogged to the mound for a relief appearance at Monongalia County Ballpark.
But this time he exited from the left field bullpen instead of the right field one and he also wasn’t on the mound to pitch for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Instead, he was entering the game in relief as a member of the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, the Major League Baseball organization that drafted Strowd in the 12th round with the 348th overall pick during this year’s MLB Draft in June.
The IronBirds were in town for a three-game series against the West Virginia Black Bears, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates who play in the same ballpark as the Mountaineers.
This marked Strowd’s first appearance at Monongalia County Ballpark since May 31 when he tossed four scoreless innings in a winning effort against Fordham for West Virginia during the team’s first game at the NCAA Morgantown Regional.
“It’s going to be a little weird coming out of the opposite bullpen,” Strowd said prior to Friday night’s game. “But hopefully this crowd recognizes who I am and they get behind me a little bit more than they would at a visiting team coming here.”
Strowd entered the game to cheers and applause from the 2,625 in attendance at the ballpark before throwing two scoreless innings to cap off a 4-1 win for the IronBirds in a seven-inning contest which was the second of a doubleheader.
The Fort Worth, Texas native delivered a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout in the sixth and despite allowing a two-out, RBI double in the bottom of seventh, he came through with a pair of strikeouts in the inning to seal the win for the IronBirds.
Playing in the Orioles organization is a dream come true for Strowd.
Prior to the MLB Draft, Strowd, who finished his junior season at West Virginia with a 4.73 ERA and 87 strikeouts, was confident that he had put himself in a position to be drafted anywhere from rounds 1-20.
“I thought pretty highly of myself and I was hoping that the other teams in the draft would think the same thing, but I was just going to hope for anything really,” he said.
On day three of the MLB draft, Strowd was driving back to his hometown in Texas when he received the phone call from the Orioles.
“I didn’t really know what to think,” Strowd said. “I had to focus on driving for a little bit but I eventually pulled over and answered all the phone calls I was getting. I just accepted all the congratulations and it was a really cool experience.”
When it came down to deciding whether he’d return to West Virginia for his senior season or head to the MLB, the decision to sign with the Orioles wasn’t exactly a no brainer for Strowd.
But after weighing his options, Strowd believed he was ready to take his game to the next level and couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by.
“I’ve had those dreams since I stepped on the baseball field for the first time,” Strowd said. “I kind of fell in love with the sport when I was young. It’s every kid’s dream when you’re playing baseball to get drafted by a pro team.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing so I thought it was smart for me to go to the next level,” he later added.
Strowd didn’t know a whole lot about the Orioles at first but was well aware of a certain left-handed pitcher for the organization who recently became the first-ever former West Virginia baseball player to be selected to the MLB All-Star game.
“I haven’t been one to pay attention to MLB baseball too much. I always wanted to play it,” Strowd said. “The big thing is John Means. He’s playing for the Orioles, he was an all-star this past week. I wish I could come into contact with him, but I know he’s a little busy.”
After signing with the Orioles for $125,000, according to MLB Draft Tracker, Strowd has maintained the exact same day-to-day routine that he had at West Virginia.
So far this season, he has made three appearances on the mound for the IronBirds. After pitching innings over 80 innings this past season for the Mountaineers, Strowd believes he’ll see about 15-20 innings on the mound this summer due to the high amount of innings he pitched during the college baseball season.
While he works towards making his big league debut one day, Strowd will also make sure he enjoys the journey along the way.
“It really does go by quickly and I haven’t been working on anything really mechanically so far but mentally you just have to go out there and believe you’re the best out there,” Strowd said.
When looking back at his career in the gold and blue, the wins, walk-offs and helping the program host an NCAA Regional for the first time since 1955 aren’t the first things that come to mind but rather the memories he made with his teammates along his journey.
“It would definitely be the guys in the locker room every day and the coaching staff that I was with every single day and just all the memories that were made,” he said.
Strowd’s experience at Aberdeen has served him well so far as it is the first step of what he hopes to be a memorable pro career.
“It’s been awesome. I can’t ask for a better place to play at every day,” Strowd said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
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