Interview with potential 2009 draftee, Slade Heathcott http://www.nomaas.org/draft/?p=144 About a month ago I wrote about Slade Heathcott, and detailed the reasons why I wanted the Yankees to select him in the upcoming draft. Well I had a chance recently to speak with Slade, and was able to learn a little more about him. The interview took place Tuesday, March 10th, with the delay in posting it caused by a Meyer family vacation shortly thereafter. Slade was extremely polite in his responses (almost every question was answered with a “yes sir” or “no sir”), and offered up some interesting information regarding his talents on the field. As a Yankees fan, I found it very intriguing that he knew the area scout’s name (which I’ve probably mis-spelled) right off the top of his head. Anyway, enjoy the interview. Lane Meyer: Tell me a little bit about you and sports – we know you play football and baseball, but are there any others? How long have you been playing each? Slade Heathcott: I used to play soccer, basketball, and wrestled – I basically played every sport I could. When I moved freshman year they didn’t have a wrestling team and I didn’t go out for basketball, so I just stuck to baseball and football. Lane Meyer: Is it going to be tough for you walking away from football? I went to school in Ohio, so I understand what playing high school ball means in a place like Texas… Slade Heathcott: Oh, I mean, my first love is baseball of course. I think I have the mentality where I just like to hit people and compete – compete at everything I can. That’s why I like football; it gave me something to compete at while I wasn’t playing baseball. So I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Baseball will take over, I’ll be able to focus on it more, and hopefully get better that way. Lane Meyer: How’s the knee doing? It was the left one, correct? Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir. My first day back was the day I got released last Monday [3/2/09] and it feels great. Lane Meyer: Wow, for tearing your ACL and having surgery in November that’s pretty fast, no? Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir. They were telling me six months so I came back pretty quick. I haven’t really pitched in an actual game yet, but I’ve been throwing bullpens for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I’ll get to do that this week when we have a tournament coming up. Lane Meyer: You must be pretty excited about college – LSU is currently one of the top teams in the country and you get a chance to play for Coach Mainieri. What is it specifically that drew you to them? Slade Heathcott: It was the coaching staff, to be honest. When I went down there I tried a couple of other visits and nothing really clicked, I guess you could say. When I got to LSU they were all waiting, and I just really liked the coaching staff. I liked the tradition down there and the fans. I went to opening weekend about two weekends ago and that was just amazing. The new stadium they have there, the tradition and the coaches…I just fell in love it. Lane Meyer: What other schools were you considering? Was the two-way factor a big part of your decision? Slade Heathcott: Arkansas, OU, Ole Miss, and LSU were probably my final four. They were all willing to let me play two-way. Lane Meyer: Have you thought about the draft? Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir. I’ll worry more about it when it comes around. Right now the first thing I’ve got to do is play and produce, and then I guess everything else will work itself out the way it’s supposed to. Lane Meyer: When you think about it, what do you picture – what’s your dream? Slade Heathcott: My dream is to play Major League Baseball, it always has been. I want to take the best path to get me there the quickest and in the best way, so that’s what I’m going to do. When it comes down to that time I’ll worry about it, but like I said I’m trying to really keep my mind off everything but playing – that’s what’s important. Lane Meyer: Have you heard from a lot of teams? Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir, I’ve had about 20-25 of the teams. Lane Meyer: Have you had any contact from the Yankees? Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir, I have - Mark Pachecko, I think he’s the area scout. Lane Meyer: Historically, a kid like yourself who has a good build and throws 90+ with his left arm is often converted to the mound right away professionally. What are your thoughts on that? Slade Heathcott: I thought that’s what the scouts would all think, but honestly it’s about half-and-half; they’re not really sure what they want me to be. Some of them say that if I want to solely concentrate on pitching that I could develop better mechanics and throw harder, and the others say they want to see how I mature as an outfielder and I can always fall back to the pitching. I mean, I’m going to take whatever will get me the furthest of course, but I like to play everyday and compete, so if I’m going to have a choice and it’s open to me, then I’m going to be playing everyday. Lane Meyer: As a pitcher, tell me about your arsenal. Slade Heathcott: I throw a 4-seam I normally work in on both batters. Depending on the count I’ll throw a 2-seam that has somewhat good movement. I throw a circle change, and my out-pitch, which is probably my best pitch, is my curveball. It has quite a bit of break and that’s what I like to rely on. It just depends on how the batter reacts to the fastball coming in, and then I’ll know what pitches to throw, but those are the 4 pitches I have. Lane Meyer: When you’re healthy, what do your pitches clock in at? Slade Heathcott: My 2-seam will sit anywhere from 88-91 mph and my 4-seam will normally sit around 90-93 mph. The highest I’ve ever been clocked at was in Dallas where I hit 95 mph about seven times. The changeup I normally throw anywhere from 72-76 mph, and the curve I throw at 78-81 mph. I throw it really tight and it has a late break. I love throwing it to left-handed batters, and I try to sneak it backdoor to a righty. Lane Meyer: What is your mindset on the mound? Are you hyped up, calm, etc? Slade Heathcott: I’m not much of a quiet person in anything I do. I get into the game pretty well – I guess that’s the competitive side of me. A lot of people say that because of my mentality I should be a closer, and I think that’ s what LSU is going to start me out at initially: a closer that can come in from the outfield. Scouts say that I could be a Billy Wagner with the mind frame that I have. I’m not a person to shy away from any batter. I like to go at ‘em, and if they hit me they hit me. Lane Meyer: What about your approach at the plate? Power? All-fields? Slade Heathcott: I’ve always been an oppo hitter just because I was actually a lot smaller at first so I’d use my speed. This year I’ve gotten to where I’ m pretty good at using the whole field – if I get an inside fastball I’d like to pull it. Lane Meyer: That’s really interesting. Usually younger hitters just try to yank everything and have to be taught to go the other way. You learned it the other way around. Slade Heathcott: Yes, sir. I’d say 70-80% of my hits last year were to the opposite field. Lane Meyer: Texarkana is right on the border of Arkansas, which is where new Yankee, AJ Burnett played his HS ball – do you know anything about him at all? Slade Heathcott: Actually I do. My advisor now is Burnett’s agent. I met AJ’ s parents at a game at the end of last summer. Lane Meyer: Speaking of the pros, can we assume you’re an Astors fan? Slade Heathcott: Oh, you don’t want to know what kind of fan I am. Lane Meyer: Oh no… Slade Heathcott: (laughs) Lane Meyer: How the heck did that happen?! Slade Heathcott: I don’t know! I used to really like Manny, but now he’s gone. I liked Damon when he was there, and that’s what got me into it. I’ve just stuck with it since. Lane Meyer: Who are the players that you look up to the most? Slade Heathcott: My favorite is Josh Hamilton. He’s an athlete. In my opinion he’s one of the best athletes to ever come through Major League Baseball. I read the book he has out now, his biography, and it’s really good. Lane Meyer: What about pitchers? Slade Heathcott: I never really knew much about AJ, but I watched him in a game and he’s got some filthy stuff. Closing mentality, Mariano Rivera I love. Lane Meyer: Well that will win you back some of the fans out here in the New York area. Who do you most often here scouts comparing your game to, both at the plate and on the mound? You said Billy Wagner earlier – are there others? Slade Heathcott: No, I’ve really been compared to Billy Wagner a lot by scouts. The way that I play the field, a lot of people say that I’m like Rusty Greer, because he always went 100% all the time, just balls to the wall. It’s kind of cool because I played for Rusty this summer when he coached us in Dallas and I’ve become good friends with him, so I like that comparison. Lane Meyer: What’s the biggest thing you want to focus on going into this season? Slade Heathcott: At the plate I want to hit more for power. On the mound I guess I get a little fired up at times, so I guess I need to settle down a little bit. I want to learn how to pitch more than just throw the ball – that’s what I’m really trying to concentrate on now. Lane Meyer: Finally, what’s this whole process like for you? Slade Heathcott: Honestly it never has gotten annoying to me – it’s just dreams falling into place. One of the best experiences of my life was getting picked for Aflac [Lane's note: check out his role model], which was a huge accomplishment for me. Nobody really knew me outside of Texarkana and when I made it it was just unbelievable. But it doesn’t bother me at all. At times the college deal got a little hectic with all the schools calling, but nothing ever bothers me. I could be doing something else and not have the chance to do this, so I don’t take it for granted. Going forward I will be bringing you more interviews with potential 2009 draftees, so keep an eye out for them, and if you want notification of when they go up just friend me on Facebook. Also, if you have specific players you’ d like to see interviews with, just e-mail me or send me a note on Facebook. -- You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there. -- Yogi Berra --

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