How Whitecaps players have improved despite the challenges of the Cape League
To call Christian Molfetta a veteran of the Cape League is an understatement.
A redshirt junior at Stanford University, Molfetta has appeared in more games on the Cape than he has at Stanford. After spending just three games with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the summer of 2016, Molfetta joined Brewster the next summer and won the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship before re-joining the Whitecaps last summer in 2018.
Molfetta’s seen it all. Which is why this summer he’s taking a step back. “The one thing I want to do this summer is just play and have fun,” Molfetta said. “Over the last three years, four years in college, everything is so intense in that a lot of times I think all of the players really focus on what’s going to happen in the future.”
Coaches, scouts, competition and the spotlight of playing in the world’s greatest amateur baseball league creates a kind of pressure that is understandable yet unrelatable.
For many collegiate ball players, baseball is not just a game; it’s their future, the same way medical school is for doctors and law school is for lawyers. Factor in the reality of there only being 750 roster spots in Major League Baseball and the competition ratchets up to a level that can be, at times, unhealthy.
“I think a lot of players are scared of what’s going to happen in the future,” Molfetta said. “I think it’s really difficult to play when you have some fear in you.”
The majority of the players who enter the Cape League have no experience with the surrounding area. Most of the league’s competitors are 19 to 20 years of age, with many of them mentally or physically drained from competing in 50 plus games during the regular collegiate season. But despite these challenges, in many cases, these young men have translated the lessons they’ve learned from their summer on the Cape to their following collegiate seasons.
Take Arizona State sophomore infielder Gage Workman as an example. A native of Queen Creek, Arizona, Workman was 18 years old when he played for the Whitecaps last summer.
In his first season with Brewster he struggled. Posting a .547 OPS after posting an OPS over .800 as a freshman for the Sun Devils. But that one season on the Cape for Workman translated into results the following spring; he is now hitting .326 with seven home runs and a .415 on base percentage as of May 17th for Arizona State. “I learned how to be an infielder on the Cape,” Workman said. “(Coach Tommy Weber) taught me a lot about infield and how to just play the game a little bit and deal with failure.”
In a league where teams play six to seven days a week, dealing with and learning from failure is critical. There’s no time to grieve over a poor performance when there’s another contest the following day. “It’s a tough league; there’s a lot of ups and downs,” Workman said. “You try to keep it as smooth as possible.”
For Brewster, the man most responsible for keeping the Whitecaps young talent on the right path has been manager, Jamie Shevchik. Also, the head coach at Keystone College in Pennsylvania, Shevchik’s hands off approach has allowed each of his players to learn about their own strengths and weaknesses without interference or unwarranted pressure. But when a player needs guidance or a helping hand, Shevchik and his staff never hesitate in administering advice.
“Coach Shev is a great guy and a great coach,” returning Whitecaps pitcher Jeff Criswell said. “I had a great time playing for him. He kept the environment loose and light. And one thing he really stressed was letting us play and letting us learn and make mistakes on our own.”
“I was pretty fortunate to be put on Brewster. (I had a) great host family (and a) great coaching staff where they let us have all the freedom to play how each of us play,” returning Whitecaps first baseman and outfielder Jesse Franklin said.
“I really liked last year and how good the coaches were at making you feel comfortable with whatever you’re doing,” returning Whitecaps catcher Joe Donovan said. “It was just so much fun because there was just a loose atmosphere. A lot of funny guys on the team and I think it just helped us play better.
“We might have not had the most successful beginning of the season but as the season went on, it was so much fun and we just got better as we went.”
Criswell, Franklin and Donovan are all sophomores at the University of Michigan. And after just one summer under Shevchik’s guidance, each current member of the Wolverines improved following their summer in Brewster.
As of May 19th, Franklin has walked nearly three times more than he did as a freshman. Criswell has been able to maintain an ERA under three despite throwing over 40 more innings than he did a season ago. And following a freshman campaign that was homer less, Donovan has six home runs in his sophomore campaign with a slugging percentage that’s .160 percentage points higher than last season.
All of this in large part thanks to Coach Shevchik and his coaching staff. They’ve maintained a loose environment that has encouraged players to grow and learn from their own mistakes, which, in turn, has created an atmosphere that’s mitigated the pressures of playing in a league that hosts some of the baseball world’s finest amateur talent.
“There’s so many great players and nobody has their college jersey or hats on,” Franklin said. “So, everyone can just play baseball and no one thinks about whose team you’re on, SEC or Big 10; it’s just straight baseball.”
Koki Riley, May 25 2019
To call Christian Molfetta a veteran of the Cape League is an understatement.
A redshirt junior at Stanford University, Molfetta has appeared in more games on the Cape than he has at Stanford. After spending just three games with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the summer of 2016, Molfetta joined Brewster the next summer and won the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship before re-joining the Whitecaps last summer in 2018.
Molfetta’s seen it all. Which is why this summer he’s taking a step back. “The one thing I want to do this summer is just play and have fun,” Molfetta said. “Over the last three years, four years in college, everything is so intense in that a lot of times I think all of the players really focus on what’s going to happen in the future.”
Coaches, scouts, competition and the spotlight of playing in the world’s greatest amateur baseball league creates a kind of pressure that is understandable yet unrelatable.
For many collegiate ball players, baseball is not just a game; it’s their future, the same way medical school is for doctors and law school is for lawyers. Factor in the reality of there only being 750 roster spots in Major League Baseball and the competition ratchets up to a level that can be, at times, unhealthy.
“I think a lot of players are scared of what’s going to happen in the future,” Molfetta said. “I think it’s really difficult to play when you have some fear in you.”
The majority of the players who enter the Cape League have no experience with the surrounding area. Most of the league’s competitors are 19 to 20 years of age, with many of them mentally or physically drained from competing in 50 plus games during the regular collegiate season. But despite these challenges, in many cases, these young men have translated the lessons they’ve learned from their summer on the Cape to their following collegiate seasons.
Take Arizona State sophomore infielder Gage Workman as an example. A native of Queen Creek, Arizona, Workman was 18 years old when he played for the Whitecaps last summer.
In his first season with Brewster he struggled. Posting a .547 OPS after posting an OPS over .800 as a freshman for the Sun Devils. But that one season on the Cape for Workman translated into results the following spring; he is now hitting .326 with seven home runs and a .415 on base percentage as of May 17th for Arizona State. “I learned how to be an infielder on the Cape,” Workman said. “(Coach Tommy Weber) taught me a lot about infield and how to just play the game a little bit and deal with failure.”
In a league where teams play six to seven days a week, dealing with and learning from failure is critical. There’s no time to grieve over a poor performance when there’s another contest the following day. “It’s a tough league; there’s a lot of ups and downs,” Workman said. “You try to keep it as smooth as possible.”
For Brewster, the man most responsible for keeping the Whitecaps young talent on the right path has been manager, Jamie Shevchik. Also, the head coach at Keystone College in Pennsylvania, Shevchik’s hands off approach has allowed each of his players to learn about their own strengths and weaknesses without interference or unwarranted pressure. But when a player needs guidance or a helping hand, Shevchik and his staff never hesitate in administering advice.
“Coach Shev is a great guy and a great coach,” returning Whitecaps pitcher Jeff Criswell said. “I had a great time playing for him. He kept the environment loose and light. And one thing he really stressed was letting us play and letting us learn and make mistakes on our own.”
“I was pretty fortunate to be put on Brewster. (I had a) great host family (and a) great coaching staff where they let us have all the freedom to play how each of us play,” returning Whitecaps first baseman and outfielder Jesse Franklin said.
“I really liked last year and how good the coaches were at making you feel comfortable with whatever you’re doing,” returning Whitecaps catcher Joe Donovan said. “It was just so much fun because there was just a loose atmosphere. A lot of funny guys on the team and I think it just helped us play better.
“We might have not had the most successful beginning of the season but as the season went on, it was so much fun and we just got better as we went.”
Criswell, Franklin and Donovan are all sophomores at the University of Michigan. And after just one summer under Shevchik’s guidance, each current member of the Wolverines improved following their summer in Brewster.
As of May 19th, Franklin has walked nearly three times more than he did as a freshman. Criswell has been able to maintain an ERA under three despite throwing over 40 more innings than he did a season ago. And following a freshman campaign that was homer less, Donovan has six home runs in his sophomore campaign with a slugging percentage that’s .160 percentage points higher than last season.
All of this in large part thanks to Coach Shevchik and his coaching staff. They’ve maintained a loose environment that has encouraged players to grow and learn from their own mistakes, which, in turn, has created an atmosphere that’s mitigated the pressures of playing in a league that hosts some of the baseball world’s finest amateur talent.
“There’s so many great players and nobody has their college jersey or hats on,” Franklin said. “So, everyone can just play baseball and no one thinks about whose team you’re on, SEC or Big 10; it’s just straight baseball.”
Koki Riley, May 25 2019
