Kentucky commit Tommy Specht enters summer as MLB draft prospect
Editor’s note: The Texas Rangers selected OF Tommy Specht with the 169th overall pick in the 6th round of the 2022 MLB Draft on July 18.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (BVM) – Tommy Specht isn’t playing his senior season of high school baseball in Iowa, but the MLB Draft prospect still takes pride in representing his home state wherever he is playing.
“Traveling around the country all summer and I tell people I’m from Iowa, you know, they’re really surprised, they didn’t know baseball was very big up in Iowa,” Specht said. “It’s really cool to be representing my state on a draft type level.”
Specht is one of the top high school prospects in the nation ahead of the 2022 MLB Draft and the top high school prospect out of Iowa. His draft stock has risen over the last year, he even played in the The Perfect Game All-American Classic. He has set himself up to hear his name called early in the MLB Draft in mid-July.
“It’s very surreal because it’s something that I’ve been dreaming about since I was very young,” Specht said. “It’s really cool to see some of these things start to come together. I remember ever since I committed when I was a sophomore I wanted to continue to push myself so I set my sights on the draft out of high school.”
That has been Specht’s mentality for a long time: setting a goal, working hard to achieve it, achieving it and then moving on to the next goal.
“To get where I want to get to, hard work is required,” Specht said. “I took that very seriously at a young age and I feel like that’s what really set me apart in the end.”
Before setting the goal of being a draft prospect out of high school, Specht had the goal of being a Division I ball player. By the time he got to high school, that goal was close to being achieved. As a freshman he had a .349 batting average, five doubles, four triples, one home run and nine RBIs.
“After my freshman year things started to come together,” Specht said.
Specht verbally committed to the University of Kentucky in September of 2020 and since then has been working towards making it to the MLB Draft.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound outfielder has great speed in the outfield and a powerful, accurate arm. He bats left-handed and last year for Wahlert Catholic, Specht had a .439 batting average, 1.237 OPS with five doubles, two triples, two home runs and 14 RBIs. His efforts helped the Golden Eagles to a IAHSAA Class 3A state runner-up finish.
However, after this spring instead of playing with Wahlert Catholic for his senior season, Specht will play for the Clinton LumberKings in the Prospect League. It is a wood–bat league for college ball players and it gives Specht a chance to show off to MLB scouts while playing against collegiate competition.
“I just felt like I could really benefit more from not playing high school baseball,” Specht said.
At this rate, the future Kentucky Wildcat will have a tough decision to make following the draft: go pro or head to Kentucky to play SEC baseball. The decision is still months away and Specht is waiting to make his choice, but he is certainly leaning towards fulfilling his childhood game.
“If the opportunity is right I’m definitely not opposed to going the pro route,” Specht said. “That’s what I’m leaning towards right now because playing in the major leagues has always been my dream. That’s what I’m leaning towards right now but I think the money and opportunity has to be right.”
It’s been a dream of his since he was five or six. Specht watched MLB baseball on TV, would beg his parents to take him to the batting cages so he could practice and has dedicated countless hours to reaching this point.
The work isn’t done yet, but Specht appreciates how far he has come. He is living out his dream and as the MLB Draft approaches, he hopes that what he is doing can show other kids in Iowa that they too can live out their dreams.
“I hope that when it’s all said and done I can be an example for younger players coming out of the state,” Tommy Specht said. “Showing them that it is possible to put yourself in a good position being from Iowa. Ultimately I kind of want to inspire the next generation of Iowa baseball players.”
