Charles McAdoo has the tools to fill a need for the Blue Jays, and the powerful infielder offered a glimpse of his potential this past weekend. McAdoo drove an offering from Orioles starter Trevor Rogers in the seventh inning on Friday night to the opposite field for a two run, go ahead homer at Camden Yards.
The Battle For Playing Time
The Blue Jays’ infield is crowded, and whether McAdoo remains with the big club will depend largely on his bat. If he continues to hit for power, Jays’ manager John Schneider will have little choice but to keep him in the lineup every day.
For McAdoo, that is exactly how it has always worked ever since his sophomore year at San Jose State, which is just a 45-minute drive from where he grew up. He has exceeded expectations, and projections at all stops of his amateur and professional baseball journey.
Coming From San Jose State
Consider the power hitting middle infielder a poster child for the growing wave of baseball talent coming out of Northern California. On Friday, St. Mary’s, a small private college in Moraga, California, eliminated top ranked UCLA on its home field at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Meanwhile, Cal Poly continues its impressive run as it prepares to take on West Virginia with a trip to Omaha and the College World Series on the line.
McAdoo embodies the talent that has quietly become a hallmark of players from the Northern California region. Could it be that there is a sixth tool?, as National Inventors Hall of Fame CEO Michael Oister described it:
“It’s the resilience, grit, obsession, perseverance. It’s what’s under the hood that counts…”
How McAdoo slipped to the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft suggests that the baseball factories and winning programs throughout Northern California, from high schools to community colleges and NCAA programs at every level, still are not receiving the respect they deserve.
