Future No. 1 MLB draft pick? Savion Sims could be the next Black ace: 'The game needs him'
They pack their bags in the family Honda Pilot every Friday afternoon at 4:30, sometimes Saturday morning at 8 and drive 229 miles straight to Mesquite, Texas, for workouts at the Velocracy Baseball Academy, one of the nation’s leading minority youth programs.
This is where the Sims family will stay for the weekend and watch their son train with legendary coach Omar Washington, who played in the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox organizations. They’ll go to church Sunday morning at the Greenville Avenue Church of Christ in Richardson, Texas, return to the complex for more personalized training, and head back at 4:30 each Sunday for a 3 ½-hour drive back home to Edmond, Oklahoma.
Major League Baseball scouts will soon be making this same trek watching perhaps the most electrifying young pitcher in the land.
His name is Savion Sims, a 17-year-old junior at Edmond Santa Fe High School.
He is 6-foot-8, and 205 pounds.
He throws 99 mph.
And he is captivating the imagination of everyone from Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene to former All-Star pitcher Kenny Hill to hundreds of scouts throughout the country.
“If he came out in this year’s draft,’’ one Midwest scout said, “he’d be a top 10 pick. Next year, he could be the No. 1 pick.’’
Said an East Coast scout: “He is for real. He not only throws harder than any high school player in the country, but actually knows where the ball is going.’’
Said a West coast scout: “He reminds me of a young Doc Gooden.’’
Said Midwest scout: “Think of a right-handed Randy Johnson.’’
Said a Southwest Scout: “He reminds me of Dave Stewart with his aggressiveness.’’
In a baseball world where there are only 16 Black pitchers in all of Major League Baseball, with only six Black pitchers drafted in the first round in the last decade, there is Sims.
“I’ve never had anybody with these type of tools,’’ said Washington, who has spent 28 years working with kids as the founder of Citius Baseball, which has produced thousands of pro and collegiate players. “I’ve seen some unbelievable talent. I’ve seen guys like Gerrit Cole, and (Francisco) Lindor and (Bryce) Harper from Perfect Game develop into All-Stars.
“But I’ve never seen anybody with this much potential.
“It’s J.R. Richard. It’s Randy Johnson. It’s freakish.’’
It’s Sims, the mild-mannered, religious, 3.65 GPA student, with a fierce competitiveness to become the pitcher everyone will want to emulate on and off the field.
“I know everyone says I have a calm demeanor,’’ Sims said, “but Omar has helped me be a dawg, too, attacking hitters.
“They call me the silent killer in high school."
Sims was actually a shortstop until Washington convinced him and his father that a 6-foot-8 shortstop wasn’t going to cut it. So, Sims went to the mound as a freshman. It took a year for him to get serious about pitching. Now, it’s all he can think about.
“The game needs him,’’ Washington said. “You see a lot of kids play the game, but they don’t have the people behind them or in the network to get them through. Savion has all of that, and so much more. He’s a special talent because of his unique size and makeup and mental skills. He knows what he wants. He has a spirit that is uplifting.
“It’s almost like that Kobe Bryant mentality. His competitive edge is uncanny. He’s so laser focused. He really has all of the attributes of a true professional.’’
Damon Sims, a former FBI agent, grew up in a baseball family. His father and his uncles all played baseball. Jeanetta, Damon Sims’ wife and Savion’s mother, played college basketball and one of her brothers played college baseball.
Sims ran track in college, but it was only natural to teach his son the game of baseball. He rudely discovered that Savion was something special when he knocked out his front teeth while trying to catch him.
Savion was also a fine basketball player, good enough to play collegiately, but he wanted to stick solely to baseball. He and his dad made a deal. If he received collegiate baseball scholarships, he could abandon basketball.
The offers started rolling in after eighth grade. He committed to Oklahoma University, but with the way scouts already are drooling over him, there’s a better chance of OU shutting down their football program than Sims stepping onto campus for his freshman year.
“This is a testament to all of the work he’s put in,’’ said Damon Sims, who lost their oldest son, Anthony, to brain cancer at the age of 5. “People started to recognize he has talent. Oklahoma is not a large state, it’s more challenging to get recognition, but it’s coming.’’
Sims will spend this summer traveling and playing in tournament showcases. He has an open invitation to MLB’s youth tournaments. Sims met Greene at the Dream Series in January, and since are frequently exchanging messages, with Greene providing advice. Hill, who also met Sims at the Dream Series, is a sounding board and travelled from his Dallas home to watch him pitch Monday.
“Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe the help I’m getting,’’ said Sims, who pitched a five-inning perfect game in his last start. “Hunter is an example of what I can be in the future. He tells me just to be a team player, don’t be selfish, and don’t have anything else in mind but go dominate high school. And, yeah, be careful what you do on social media.
“And to have Mr. Hill, a big leaguer for so many years, drive three hours to watch me and give me advice is insane.’’
Hill, who spent 14 years in the big leagues, says he wouldn’t be wasting his time if he didn’t believe Sims loved the game, and was willing to dedicate himself to becoming the best pitcher with his god-given talent.
“This kid gets the information, he listens, he takes it to heart, and he applies it to the game,’’ Hill said. “He’s already special, and he’s only going to get better. There’s still plenty of work to do, but it’s coming. I’m excited for him and to see what happens. Believe me, he’s going to be all right.’’
Sims is hoping to play it forward by being a role model himself for other young Black pitchers. If young Black kids watch him dominating on the mound, they’ll realize they can make it too.
“Honestly, for a lot of (Black) guys when you first get in, you’re seen more of a position player," said Brewers reliever Grant Anderson, who was a catcher at McNeese State. “Sometimes, if you have the athletic ability, some people might see it as a waste of athleticism to be a pitcher.
“I think too, that’s just the way it was, wanting to be like were the position players. Just like, I wanted to do my hair like Prince Fielder. Watching a game, I wanted to be like (Gary) Sheffield or (Andrew) McCutchen. Maybe every five days you might see a CC (Sabathia) or a Dontrelle (Willis), but you want to be like the guys you see the most.
“You just didn’t see that Black superstar pitcher often. Instead, it was like Ken Griffey Jr. was on everything. So, do I want to be like the guy I saw a month ago or the guy I see on ESPN all of the time?"
Now, with Sabathia becoming the third Black starting pitcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, and Greene being one of baseball’s best pitcher the first three weeks, perhaps there will be an influx of young Black athletes wanting to be pitchers. There were 29 Black pitchers who appeared in at least one game last season.
“I do think there’s an increase, especially with the draft these last couple of years,’’ Anderson said. “Hopefully those guys can get to the majors and make a big difference.’’
And perhaps, just perhaps, Sims can be one of those difference-makers, too.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he will,’’ Washington said. “I see that star power. I see him just warming up at 95-mph. He has the ability to throw a changeup like (Yankees closer) Devin Williams’. I see the 87 to 88-mph slider that will go to 92 to 93-mph at the next level. I see the 17 to 18-inch horizontal break. I see the way older kids, even big leaguers, react to him, literally surrounding him to be around him.
“This be a journey for Savion. But, oh, it is going to be a great journey.’’
Says Sims: “I’m ready.’’
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