Scott Schebler Returns
“DMACC was the time of my life playing baseball.”
This week’s Moonlighter is a doubleheader in his own right. Scott Schebler was on the podcast in Episode 49 and comes back in Episode 179 as part of our series with DMACC. Scott Schebler came out of DMACC’s Boone Campus in 2010 and has spent the last ten years in professional baseball. This interview took place towards the end of the crazy 2020 Covid regular season and Scott Schebler and the Atlanta Braves tried to stay healthy and stay competitive with the modified training regimen and rules. The ballplayers in the alternate roster were getting tested every other day and were restricted on where they can go, almost like the NBA bubble.
“You’re recruiting him way too hard.”
Growing up in Shueyville, IA, Scott Schebler was a 5-sport athlete for Cedar Rapids Prairie High School who didn’t really have any options for college baseball. Schebler was recruited as a football player and had some options there, but once he decided baseball was his path forward, DMACC was it. Then DMACC head coach Dan Fitzgerald hounded Schebler even though there wasn’t any competition for the baseball prospect. Coach Fitz attended soccer and basketball games in his effort to bring Schebler west on Highway 30. Though others, including Schebler himself, didn’t see it, Fitz knew that there was something special there.
Once at DMACC, Coach Fitzgerald had plans for Schebler that only had him playing JUCO baseball for one year. Fitz knew that Schebler could be playing division I or even turning pro within a year. And he was right. Even before his first spring baseball season in college, Schebler had offers to transfer to play DI baseball. That one season of college baseball at DMACC though was enough to get Schebler on the radar of pro scouts and eventually get selected in the 2010 draft. In his one season as a DMACC Bear, Schebler hit .446 and had 20 home runs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Schebler in the 26th round of the 2010 draft. Schebler had a lot of success in his 5 years in the minors, including the 2013 Dodgers Player of the Year. Playing alongside some of the top talents in the Dodgers system is what helped him believe he belonged in professional baseball. Two years after that breakout 2013 season, Schebler made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in June of 2015. After getting his first hit on the first pitch he saw in the bigs, he was sent back down to finish the regular season in the minors. He returned to the bigs in September of 2015 and finished the season with 19 games.
In the winter of 2015, Schebler was traded to the Cincinnati Reds and made the opening day roster in 2016. After a little bit of a slow start with the Reds, Schebler was sent down for July and then was brought back in August of ‘16 and finished the season really strong. In 2017 Schebler had what has been the best season of his MLB career to this point. He hit 30 home runs and had 67 RBIs during that season. After battling injuries and having labrum surgery in the Reds system in 2019, Schebler was traded to the Braves in 2020. Schebler finished the season with the Braves as part of their alternate roster. In his MLB career to this point, Schebler has almost 300 hits and 61 home runs.
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Every listener to this podcast knows that a game of catch is rarely just a game of catch. Playing catch is an opportunity to connect with someone, whether you spend that time in conversation or just listening to the pop of the ball hitting the leather. Few understand this more than this week’s guest, Kevin Negaard. Negaard’s journey is nearing his goal of 365 consecutive days of catch. This endeavor has connected him with hundreds of partners, has spanned two continents, and led to two injections in his shoulder.