If given a choice, baseball player Tayler Aguilar would go the extra mile and return a grocery cart.
Instead of leaving the cart in an outdoor corral, or ditching it in a convenient spot near his vehicle, Aguilar told a Major League Baseball team that he’d take the cart to where it belongs.
“I’d put it back in the store,” said the 18-year-old Aguilar, a four-year varsity outfielder at Northridge High School.
Aguilar said he answered the grocery cart question for the Philadelphia Phillies as part of one of about 20 pre-Major League Baseball Draft questionnaires he filled out in advance of the June 3-5 event, also known as the first-year player draft.
The questionnaires are one of the tools the 30 MLB teams use to evaluate players for the draft, and this year that evaluation process includes Aguilar.
“He’s a draftable kid,” said longtime Northridge coach Mike Huston of his center fielder. “He works hard, and he and his family have made it a goal (to pursue) baseball and he’s put a lot of time into it.”
Aguilar has played for travel teams and at showcase events, dating back to his freshman year.
A 6-foot-2, 215-pounder who throws and bats left-handed, Aguilar is a senior at Frontier Academy. He plays with Northridge because Frontier doesn’t have a baseball team. Aguilar is hitting .407 in nine games this year, and he has a .413 average in 70 high school games. In 27 at-bats this spring, Aguilar has 11 hits – with five home runs – and 14 RBI.
His power at the plate is beginning to show, when he’s given the chance to hit. Aguilar has been intentionally walked about a half-dozen times this season.
“He’s handling it really well,” Huston said. “As far as raw power, maybe he’s as powerful a kid as we’ve ever had. He hits it farther than any kid we’ve ever had.”
Aguilar’s future hinges on the 40-round draft.
Aguilar committed in October 2017 to Grand Canyon University, a Division I program in Phoenix. GCU plays baseball in the Western Athletic Conference with the University of Northern Colorado.
Aguilar, though, could put college aside if the right professional opportunity comes along after the draft. Aguilar said he’d have to be selected in the top 10 rounds to look at turning pro. Among the teams to give Aguilar a questionnaire were: the Rockies, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, the Phillies and Miami Marlins.
The Marlins a couple of years ago were the first team to send Aguilar a questionnaire.
“It was awesome,” Aguilar said.
If pro ball doesn’t work out this year, he’ll again be eligible after three years at Grand Canyon. Through conversations with scouts, Aguilar said he’s heard that he “has the potential” to be drafted out of high school but he has no idea in what round that could happen.
“If I don’t get my name called, I’m going to Grand Canyon and playing for three years and hope I’m finally drafted after my junior year,” he said. “Money doesn’t motivate me. I just want to play the game of baseball at the pro level.”
– Anne Delaney covers high school and recreational sports for The Greeley Tribune. Contact Anne at adelaney@greeleytribune.com, (970) 392-5647 or on Twitter @AnneGDelaney.
