Major League Baseball’s regular season gets underway in less than two weeks and there is no doubt some baseball fans are eager with anticipation.
This is the time players are jockeying for a spot on the big league roster. A trio of area products are in this situation as spring training winds down for 2021. If things go as they are trending now, area fans will have a lot to cheer for this spring and summer.
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Taylor Widener (South Aiken), Luis Campusano (Cross Creek) and Nick Sandlin (Greenbrier) are all in big league camp and their play of late is making it very difficult to send them down to the minors. Here is a quick look at each of the talented young players that call the CSRA home.
Taylor Widener (South Aiken)
College: South Carolina
Major League Team: Arizona Diamondbacks
Drafted: 12th Round in 2016 by the New York Yankees
Of the three players featured, Widener easily has the most realistic chance of playing in the big leagues on opening day.
The 6’0″ 230 lbs. righthander has gotten better and more prepared for the major league level each year since signing a pro contract. Scouts and coaches rave about his makeup as a player and the Diamondbacks (who traded with the Yankees to get Widener) feel like he has a big future with their organization.
Widener was an outstanding two-way player during his prep days at South Aiken. As a junior, he went 4-1 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA on the mound, while hitting .329 with five homers at the plate. By the time he closed out his career with the Thoroughbreds, he was regarded as one of the top prospects in the southeast.
He was ranked the #5 prospect in South Carolina and the #175th best prospect in the country by Perfect Game USA. He signed with South Carolina and had a solid career with the Gamecocks prior to being drafted in the 12th round by the New York Yankees in 2016. He was dealt to Arizona just before the 2018 season as a part of a three-team trade and he had a breakout season with the Class-AA Jackson Generals.
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His record was only 5-8, but he posted a terrific 2.75 era and struck out 176 batters in 137 innings while walking just 43. Last season, he got his first taste of the big leagues, appearing in 12 games and working 20 innings out of the bullpen.
He was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA and had an impressive 22 K’s. Heading into 2021, many baseball insiders felt like he had a great chance to make the team. After a rocky first outing out of the bullpen, he was given a chance to start a game and took full advantage. He went 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out five batters, allowed two hits and walked just one in a 6-2 win over Seattle.
There is a healthy debate as to whether Widener will be used as a starter or reliever, but he does appear to have an excellent chance to be in Arizona at the start of the season.
Luis Campusano (Cross Creek)
College: Drafted out of high school
Major League Team: San Diego Padres
Drafted: Second round by San Diego in 2017
Campusano is the nephew of Hall of Fame Pitcher Pedro Martinez and he had an incredible
prep career for Cross Creek. He was a four-year starter for the Razorbacks and hit an astonishing
.485 for his career. He also piled up 19 home runs, 34 doubles, 108 RBI and 112 runs scored.
As a senior, opposing pitchers simply could not get him out. He hit .622 with 6 HR, 13 doubles,
2 triples, 27 RBI and 44 Runs Scored. He also threw out five of the six base runners that dared tried
to steal on him. A month after graduation, he was the first catcher selected in the 2017 MLB
draft.
He made the adjustment to pro ball look easy. In 2018 with Class-A Fort Wayne, Campusano hit a solid .288 had 11 doubles and drove in 40 runs in 260 at bats. He also walked 52 times, showing the patience of a weathered veteran.
In 2019, he had a monster season. In Class A+ Lake Elsinore, Campusano feasted on the California League pitching to the tune of a .325 batting average, 15 HR and 81 RBI in just 422 at-bats. Also impressive was his .396 on-base percentage. The future seemed extremely bright for the young catcher.
However, COVID-19 derailed his 2020 campaign and a brush with the law put his 2021 in jeopardy.
Campusano was pulled over in Grovetown and police officers found marijuana in his car. He was charged with a felony due to the amount he had.
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The Padres began to investigate the situation, even flying their general manager to Augusta to talk with Campusano. While the criminal case is not yet behind him, the Padres must have felt confident he would be available to play ball this season because he was invited to big league camp.
He was considered a long shot to make the team due to his youth and the experienced catchers ahead of him on the roster. However, one of those catchers (Austin Nola) went down with an injury, and the Padres are now taking a more serious look at Campusano. In 12 spring training games, he is hitting .250 with a pair of doubles and a .333 on-base percentage. Campusano now has a chance to make the team and be a part of one of the most exciting lineups in all of baseball.
Nick Sandlin (Greenbrier)
College: Southern Miss
Major League Team: Cleveland Indians
Drafted: 2nd Round in 2018 by Cleveland
Nick Sandlin’s story is truly the stuff of movies.
He grew up in the baseball hotbed of Columbia County and was always a solid player. He was known as a talented middle infielder that could put the bat on the ball and was a great competitor. He was not known as a pitcher. During the off-season prior to his junior season for the ‘Pack, he began to toy around with a side-arm style delivery.
This must have been divine intervention because Sandlin’s body was meant to throw this way. He immediately gained increased velocity, but as the 2014 baseball season approached, Sandlin was not in Greenbrier’s starting rotation.
That all changed after an early season start and from there, Sandlin was simply dominant. The new-found velocity and use of several different arm slots had batters baffled all season. He was the talk of the baseball-crazy county and finished the year 13-0 with a 1.44 era. He was dominant again as a senior as he helped lead Greenbrier to the 2015 state title.
Sandlin chose to attend Southern Miss and arrived on campus at 5’10 and 155 lbs. looking more like a bat boy than a pitching star, but over the next three seasons he left no doubt– he was in fact a pitching superstar.
After earning freshman All-American honors, racking up 12 saves and boasting an earned run average of 2.38 as a freshman, Sandlin was moved to the starting rotation as a sophomore in 2017. There were some doubts as to how effective he would be with the rigors of being a starting pitcher, but once again he silenced the doubters.
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He went 10-2 and again had an ERA of 2.38. Just when he seemed he could not do any better, Sandlin stepped his game up another notch. His junior season was not just the best of any starter in the country for 2018– it is statistically one of the finest seasons in the history of college baseball.
He went 10-0 and lead the nation in ERA (1.06) and was second in strikeouts (144 in just 102 innings) despite missing a couple of starts with a minor injury. He earned First Team All-American honors and now, the scouts that had once ignored the diminutive pitcher could ignore him no more.
Sandlin was taken in the second round by the Cleveland Indians. The Indians envision him as an excellent future weapon in their bullpen. At every level he pitched in the minors, there was always one recurring theme– Sandlin simply gets batters out.
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The Indians rewarded him with an invitation to spring training this year, knowing he was a long-shot to actually make the opening day roster. However, in his limited opportunities to shine, Sandlin has stepped up.
In three appearances (2.2 innings), he has posted a 0.00 era and struck out five of the eight batters he has retired. He may still be destined to start the season in the minors, but barring injury, I would be surprised if we do not see Sandlin pitching for Cleveland at some point in 2021.
Ashley Brown covers sports for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Ashley.brown@theaugustapress.com
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