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Covey: "I'm pumped" Adam McCalvy California prep right-hander Dylan Covey informed the world on Monday that his parents "are kind of cheap," and thus do not have the MLB Network at the family's Pasadena home. So he gathered with more than 100 boosters at a friend's house for Day 1 of the First-Year Player Draft, and, at some point, the 18-year-old looked around the room. "I just stopped and thought, 'All of this stuff is for me,'" Covey said. "I've never looked at it that way before. I was always just going out and playing. I took a step back and realized this is the next chapter in my life. What's going to go on from here is a mystery." The Brewers made Covey the organization's latest young power arm with the 14th overall selection, committing to Covey despite some mixed results in recent history in drafting high school pitchers. Covey has drawn some comparisons to the Giants' Matt Cain and the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley for his pitching style. He told reporters Monday night that he models his attitude after the Mariners' Cliff Lee. "He kind of has that humble aspect about him on the mound," Covey said. "I would like to model myself after him as a pitcher for his personality traits." When the Brewers made him the 14th overall pick, "the whole house was just shaking from shouting and jumping up and down," Covey said. "It was awesome. I really wasn't expecting the Brewers. I met with them a couple weeks back, but they never really talked to me other than that and they didn't give me many phone calls. But I'm pumped." Among the well-wishers were Covey's older brothers Brian, 37, and Nathan, 32. His mother, Angela, told the Los Angeles Times over the weekend of how she and Dylan's dad, Darrell, decided to stop having children after Nathan was born. She underwent surgery, but, years later, changed her mind, and had the procedure reversed. More years passed before she became pregnant with Dylan, who mom described to the Times as her, "miracle guy." While Brewers fans get to know Covey, he'll be getting to know the Brewers. He admittedly knows little about the franchise, other than the fact that there's a big slide in the outfield at Miller Park. "I don't even think I know how to spell Milwaukee," Covey said. He may learn soon. Covey will turn 19 on Aug. 14, two days before the Aug. 16 deadline for teams to sign their 2010 Draft picks. Covey has some leverage with a scholarship offer from the University of San Diego. The Brewers have done a very good job in recent seasons of signing their picks early and getting them started in the Minor Leagues. "I'm totally up for signing and playing with the Brewers," he said. "We'll see what happens. I'm not completely writing college off, but there's a good chance -- I would say a really good chance -- that I will sign." He also said: "I want to play, I want to sign, and I want to play soon, but I don't know what that process is like. I don't have any idea what to expect." He was the third high school pitcher selected in the Draft. "That's pretty sweet," Covey said. "I'm kind of shocked. I don't even know what to say right now because this whole atmosphere is crazy."

Dylan Covey finds success, his curveball, in unusual places John Kilma/Rivals High Dylan Covey distinctly remembers the moment he discovered his greatest gift. Standing on a muggy Florida mound and hardly having had the time to get loose, he couldn't throw his fastball over the plate to save his life. For a very long moment, Covey felt alone. He spread his fingers across the ball, and when he threw it, flicked his wrist like he was swatting a fly. It was a moment that has forever changed his game. For the first time in his life, he had thrown a curveball. It's the pitch that now some Major League scouts consider the best true right-handed curveball in the 2010 draft and adds him to the discussion of potential first-round draft picks in June. But how that curveball came about makes him unique. "When he was in Little League, he threw something like 77 mph when he was 12 years old, which is really hard for those kids," Darrell Covey, Dylan's father, said. "He broke a kid's arm with a fastball and for a while there he was afraid to throw as hard as he could. He had to work through that. It took a while, but he got over that and began throwing well again. I had always heard that you weren't supposed to let a young kid try a curveball, so I never let him throw it." Nobody knew Covey had a curveball. Home-schooled until he entered Pasadena (Calif.) Maranatha High, a private Christian institution with an enrollment of 665 students, Covey struggled as a young high school pitcher. "When I was a freshman, I had no off-speed," Covey said. "It would either go above the catcher's head or straight into the dirt." Covey fought to find consistent mechanics and release points. He had moments where he fought his confidence. But it was a moment of thinking on his cleats that led to Covey's magical discovery. At a wood bat tournament in Jupiter, Fla., two summers ago, unpredictable downpours played havoc with Covey's game schedule. The game he was scheduled to pitch looked like it was going to be a rainout, but the sky cleared and the sun shone enough for event organizers to hurriedly rush his team onto the field. Covey didn't have time to warm up in the bullpen before the game. He played long toss and then was on the mound with the usual eight pitches to get loose. "They put you on the mound and pretty much said, 'Figure it out,'" Covey said. When Covey tried to put his fastball over the plate, he threw it in the dirt. When he tried to air it out, it nearly went to the backstop. Covey was in trouble, and he hadn't even thrown a pitch in the game. "I couldn't locate my fastball at all," he said. "It literally just flew out of my hand that day." Covey noticed how the sticky Florida air made his fingertips feel tacky on the baseball. He fiddled with a curveball grip for the first time in a game and tried not to wrap his fingers too tightly around the ball. He rocked into his windup and hoped for the best As soon as the curveball snapped off from his fingertips, Covey knew he had found his future. The catcher nodded approvingly, pointed his glove at Covey, and told him to throw it again. Watching in the stands, Darrell Covey couldn't believe what he had seen. Dylan hadn't thrown a soft curveball with a wide and slow girth. He had thrown a hard over-the-top curveball. "I wish I could remember that signal caller's name," Darrell said. "He was a real good guy back there. I remember he caught Dylan's curveball, threw it back to him, and told him to keep throwing it. He just went 70 percent curveballs and 30 percent fastballs that day." Covey went from nervous to overjoyed. He could manipulate the seams exactly how he wanted to. He trusted the pitch the moment he threw it. Instead of pitching to light up radar guns, Covey did the exact opposite of what prospects are supposed to do in showcase games. He began throwing the curveball as his primary pitch and his fastball as his secondary pitch. "I had to work backwards," Dylan said. "And all of a sudden, I had a curveball." Covey led his high school team to a CIF-Southern Section championship as a junior and then shut down throwing for most of the summer until he appeared in the Aflac game in August. At San Diego's Petco Park in a showcase game that brings together many of the best high school players in the nation, Covey looked perfectly at ease on a Major League mound. He threw a hard curveball at 83 mph - considered well above average on the Major League scouting scale - and pitched at 90-93 mph, finishing with a flourishing 95 mph fastball. He got stronger in the fall, pitching a scout ball outing in which his curveball was 81-86, which solidified his first-round prospect status. In his first high school outing this spring, Covey's velocity was 94-95 deep into the game and his curveball showed shape and power at 81-83 with hard velocity, tight rotation and good command. The pitch has become Covey's calling card, and has some scouts drawing some pretty impressive comparisons. "The way he looked reminded me a lot of the way (former Cy Young winning right-handed pitcher) Curt Schilling looked as a younger pitcher," one Major League scouting director said, speaking on condition of anonymity, a baseball industry standard. And, from what it appears, it's only going to get better for the kid who learned to throw the curveball in a moment of desperation. "Right now, (Covey) probably isn't even close to being as physically strong as he's going to get," the scouting director said. "His body is sort of at that stage of being between a boy and a man. He's going to get stronger and he should be the sort of guy who can get you deep into games with power stuff on a routine basis. "The separator for him is the curveball, which is how Schilling was at a similar age." Like Father, Like Son A former ballplayer who was drafted but never signed to play professionally, Darrell Covey never lost his feel for the game. After having two sons - Brian, now 37, and Nathan, 32 - Darrell and his wife, Angela, decided they weren't going to have any more children. So Angela underwent a surgical procedure. Years later, even though Angela believed her child-rearing years were over, they had second thoughts. The procedure was reversed and, in 1991, Dylan was born. "They said I was a gift," Dylan Covey said. Baseball ran in the Covey bloodlines and flowed from father to sons with joy and heartache. A fourth son, born two years after Dylan, had died prematurely. Baseball soothed tears and, like their faith, fostered family unity. Soon enough, during backyard games of catch, Darrell could tell by the sting in his glove that Dylan came with a gift of his own. As Dylan grew and eventually joined the team at Pasadena (Calif.) Maranatha High, older brother Nathan became an assistant baseball coach with the team. Both Nathan and Darrell were there to help Dylan fight through his growing pains. In the summers, Darrell and Dylan hit the road playing in travel ball and wood bat events, rooming together and forming a relationship like an old catcher mentoring along a promising young pitcher. Dylan remembers the road trips like a map folded in his back pocket: tournaments and showcases in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida, and wherever else baseball took them. "Most guys didn't have Dads that traveled with them or that they could go out and throw with and talk about things you'd do in a game," Dylan Covey said. "Things like what pitch you'd want to throw a certain guy in a situation. "He's always been the guy who was there." http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/1185/947859.jpg

Pitcher Dylan Covey is beating odds, not to mention foes Eric Sondheimer/Los Angeles Times On a cold, drizzly night, the baseball diamond at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Pasadena needs repairs if a game between Pasadena Maranatha and Brentwood is going to be played, and the person showing the best form handling a rake is one of the scheduled starting pitchers, Dylan Covey. In a couple of months, Covey, 18, figures to have enough money to buy his own landscaping company, but the fact that he isn't hiding in the warm, cozy Maranatha clubhouse in the middle of a steady rain validates what people have been saying about his impeccable character. "He understands he needs to serve if he wants to be a leader," Coach Brian DeHaan said. "He's the first guy out to rake, to clean the shed, to maintain the field. He's going to motivate guys by his actions. He doesn't talk a lot, but based on what he does other people follow." Armed with a 94-mph fastball and a curveball that drops so sharply it seems as if it's falling off a table as it approaches home plate, Covey, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander, has put himself in position to be a first-round choice next month in Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft. He has done so by beating the odds, rising up from a small school after coming forth — literally — when no one saw him coming. His mother Angela says, "He's our little miracle guy." She tells of how she and her husband, Darrell, decided to stop having children after Dylan's older brothers, Brian, 37, and Nathan, 32, were born. She underwent a surgical procedure. Years later, she changed her mind and went through an operation to reverse the procedure. A couple of years went by. "Then, one December, I thought I had the flu and it turned out to be Dylan," Angela said. Said Dylan: "They tell me I was a miracle, but they also tell me I was the only one planned." He was home-schooled until it was time to go to high school, and since Nathan had gone to Maranatha, Dylan followed, though there was trepidation because he had become a promising baseball player. "It was a hard decision," Angela said. "We struggled with the fact we would be sending him to a small school, but it was right for him." Whatever doubts might have arisen from Covey's playing against small-school competition in high school were erased over summers playing against the very best the club-team travel circuit had to offer. His name and talent became well known, from Florida to Arizona. On a team last year, he was throwing 95 mph and some scouts thought he was better than a couple of seniors who were considered top professional prospects. http://articles.latimes.com/images/pixel.gifAnd Maranatha's baseball program got better, winning a Southern Section Division V championship last season behind Covey, who was 11-2 with 127 strikeouts. This season, he's 5-0 with an 0.14 earned-run average. He has 104 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 51 2/3 innings, and has given up just 19 hits. He was a flop as a freshman, with a 2-6 record, learning that no matter your reputation or potential, it comes down to throwing strikes, dealing with pressure and executing fundamentals. At showcases, Covey says, scouts seem to be everywhere, with radar guns aimed en masse. Even at his high school games, 20 or more scouts show up, sit behind home plate and chart his every pitch, looking for any weakness, because someone is going to be investing lots of money in his right arm. He accepted a scholarship from the University of San Diego last November, but it's clear that professional baseball beckons. And since he's gearing up to help his team make another title run, get ready for increased velocity and even sharper focus. "I've been working toward the end of the season so I'll be at full throttle when we get to the playoffs," Covey said. He's pleased he can be an example of how you don't have to attend a big school to get noticed. "If you do well," he said, "you're name is going to be heard."

Covey a bit surprised Tom Haudricourt We just had a conference call with Brewers first-round draft pick Dylan Covey, a high school right-hander from Pasadena, Calif. To say the least, Covey was surprised to be picked by the Brewers. "I don't even think I know how to spell Milwaukee," said Covey, who added that he hadn't talked to many representatives of the Brewers of late. "I wasn't really expecting the Brewers." Asked what he knew about the Brewers, Covey said, "I know they have a slide in the outfield," referring to Bernie Brewers' slide beyond left field. Covey said there was quite an uproar at his jam-packed house when his name was announcd as the 14th pick. "The whole house was shaking," said Covey. "Everybody was jumping up and down. "The whole atmosphere with the draft is pretty crazy. It's been a circus. I'm glad it's over. We'll see what happens." Covey has a scholarship to the University of San Diego but sounds more interested in going pro. "I want to play; I want to sign," he said. "I want to play soon. I'm not sure what the process is like. "Expectations for me this year were pretty high but I felt comfortable. I'm not really sure my style is what makes me successful. I'm willing to try new things and listen to people who have been there before. That's one of my better attributes." Covey said he goes to as many major league games as possible and added, "I love watching baseball but my parents are kind of cheap so I don't have the MLB Network." As for being the third prep pitcher taken in the draft, Covey said, "That's pretty sweet. I'm kind of shocked. I don't know what to say."

From an interview with Scout.com before the start of this season:

Covey: "I want to play, I want to sign, and I want to play soon, but I don’t know what that process is like. I’m not completely writing college off, but there’s a good chance -- I would say a really good chance -- that I will sign."

LHP Matt Costello called up to Brevard County.

Covey from an interview with Baseball Beginnings:

Covey video: MLB.com Baseball Beginnings Project Prospect

I asked Baseball Beginnings about BA seemingly preferring Covey's slider to his curve: "No, CB is the thing with Covey, not SL. He throws a SL but the Over the top hammer is his signature pitch."

I'm really not the guy to ask, but I really like what I'm reading. Baseball America:

ESPN's Jason A. Churchill and Keith Law on Covey:

Andy Seiler from MLB Bonus Baby:

Instant reactions: Lincoln Hamilton of Project Prospect: "Been talk of the Brewers taking Jesse Biddle...Covey is much better value...Covey immediately becomes the Brewers best pitching prospect." Jim Callis of Baseball America: "Wondered if late-season fade might drive Covey down further. Mil couldn't get at 14 a month ago." Nathan Rode of Baseball America: "RHP Dylan Covey to Brewers. I like this pick. He slid late, but has a plus fastball and breaking ball. Body isn't ideal however." Baseball Beginnings: "Brewers fans, Covey is 92-94, the big CB is 84 at best. Reminds some of Schilling or Clemens. He won't be cheap. Not a slot guy...Covey's arm action is loose and powerful. You guys will love him when you see him go good...Difference between Covey and Taillon or Allie is looseness. I think he has the most limber arm of the three...I think Covey's CB has a chance to be the best at his position, RHP, in MLB. That is an 80 curveball."

Figures they'd screw with us.

Dylan Covey?

Goldstein: "14 could be Workman, still outside shot at Ranaudo."

Law says Jays taking Deck McGuire.

I like Bobby Heck, but I'm sure the GM and owner have a lot of say there with such a high pick. That was signability all the way.

There goes Harvey. Okay, let's go Ranaudo (or Allie, but he hasn't been connected to the Brewers).

And I paused to google Jeff Clement, too!

Keith Law: "Hearing Matt Harvey to the Mets at 7 after the D-backs take Loux."

There goes that balloon.

Frankie Piliere: "Indians expected to take Drew Pomeranz 5th overall. Told I should take it to the bank"

Manatees rained out. Doubleheader tomorrow starting at noon.