OLATHE, Kan. — Still soaking in the glow of his childhood dreams realized, Nick Goodwin is preparing for life as a professional baseball player.
“Happy, relieved, excited — yeah, it was awesome,” Goodwin, 21, said of hearing his name called in the seventh round with the No. 214 overall pick Monday in the 2023 MLB Draft.
“The TV that we were watching it on was actually behind the tracker, so I guess all my friends and stuff like that were watching the tracker," Goodwin said with a laugh. "They saw that, so then my phone starts blowing up."
Goodwin, an Overland Park native and St. Thomas Aquinas graduate, slugged 33 home runs during his college career playing shortstop at Kansas State, which earned attention of pro scouts.
“COVID summer shut down my senior year of high school," Goodwin said. "I'd say that was a blessing in disguise, because that got me in the weight room ended up putting on like 15 to 20 pounds, which allowed me to tap into more of that power that I had."
Preparing to work his way through Toronto’s minor league system, Goodwin took practice swings off a tee Wednesday at Homefield in Olathe.
“Obviously, the main goal is to get to the big leagues now,” he said. “... There's a lot of great athletes that come out of (Kansas City). So, to think that I'm one of them that gets to play at the next level is definitely a blessing and I'm very thankful to have this opportunity."
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