Mike Antonio wants the same thing that every New York City high school baseball player does.
“I hope to first win a championship and get picked in the first round,” the George Washington senior shortstop said. “That’s when you know you’re a top player.”
There’s just one difference between him and everyone else: Antonio has a realistic shot at completing both those goals before summer.
Three Major League Baseball scouts, speaking on condition of anonymity, say they expect Antonio to go in the top two-to-five rounds of June’s MLB Draft, which would place the wiry-strong, 6-foot-3, 190-pound Antonio in select company.
The Washington Heights native, who has verbally committed to St. John’s University, would be the first shortstop from the area taken that high since Eastern District’s Francisco Rodriguez was picked in the second round of the 1990 draft by the Red Sox. He’d be the highest position player taken since George Washington catcher Angel Salome went in the fourth round to the Brewers in 2004.
“He amazes me with his bat speed and hand strength,” George Washington coach Steve Mandl said of Antonio, who has batted at least .460 each of his three years as a Trojan. “He just hits the ball so hard. He’s gonna shoot through whatever organization he gets to.”
A four-year starter at the same powerhouse that produced slugger Manny Ramirez, Antonio’s stock rapidly rose over the summer after he shined in several showcase tournaments featuring the nation’s elite. He hit for power and average, turning around 90-plus fastballs as if they were soft-toss pitches.
“He was always getting hits off of other guys to watch,” said an American League scout who was at those events. “He put himself on the map.”
Antonio currently is ranked 45th among high school prospects by Baseball America. Another local American League scout said, “He’s as exciting a position player” in New York City he has seen since Ramirez.
There are players nationwide similar to Antonio in terms of talent; what separates him, the same American League scout said, is his personality.
“The makeup of a kid is almost as important as his ability,” the scout said. “When you pair a kid with exceptional talent and exceptional makeup, those are the players we want.”
Antonio is always the first player to his position. He is the first one to practice and last to leave. Antonio has an endearing smile he uses to greet teammates and opponents alike. He takes younger players under his wing and is one of the loudest Trojans in the dugout.
“I don’t know if we’ve had a guy like this,” PSAL commissioner Bob Pertsas said. “He’s the total package. I love his attitude on the field.”
Outside of the diamond, he is selfless with his free time. Antonio visits disabled kids at Harlem Hospital Center with his mother, Ramona, twice a month. Once a week, he visits a former coach’s daughter, who is stricken with brain cancer, at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Stan Latimer, his summer coach with the New York Nine, remembered one evening last year when the team was at a local McDonald’s. There was a young man with a mental disability. Antonio gave him a signed baseball.
“When you put a smile on someone’s face like that, it’s amazing,” he said.
These days, Antonio is squarely in the limelight. One recent scrimmage drew up to 15 scouts. The soft-spoken shortstop tries to ignore the sets of eyes following his every step. He has plenty left to prove — and not just winning a city title and getting selected in the first round of the draft.
“That’s not really my dream,” he said. “It’s to make the major leagues and be an All-Star shortstop.”
