Warmoth's pro journey begins with Blue Jays

Scott Mitchell

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When Logan Warmoth was born on September 6, 1995, the Baltimore Orioles game was the delivery room backdrop.

It wasn’t just any O’s game.

That was the night Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played, and Warmoth’s parents, Greg and Christine, while obviously distracted, made sure they tuned in to watch The Iron Man make history with game 2,131.

Bring up the date, and Warmoth, who wore Ripken’s No. 8 when he made his little league debut at the age of 4, doesn’t even think of himself.

“That’s Cal’s day,” Warmoth said. “Growing up I was always looking up to him.

“Having that birthday, it was tough not to.”

Life works in mysterious ways, and it was impossible for the Warmoth clan to ignore the fact it was the Orioles in town Wednesday at the Rogers Centre when they arrived to make the first-round pick’s contract signing official.

Logan Warmoth’s name was called 22nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays on June 12.

If Greg Warmoth had his way, they would’ve called the name Cal Warmoth, except for the fact it didn’t exactly roll of Christine’s tongue.

So they went with Logan, instead.

“That’s a funny story how he said my mom couldn’t pronounce it being from Mississippi,” Logan Warmoth said. “I like that name. It’s got a good ring to it and it’s got some history, too.”

Also now history is Warmoth’s amateur career, as the newest member of the Blue Jays organization joined fellow first-round (28th overall) signee Nate Pearson, a right-handed pitcher out of the College of Central Florida, on the turf he hopes to be playing on regularly someday down the road.

Warmoth, who will remain at shortstop in the minors, took batting practice, reaching the left field seats a few times, fielded groundballs, and did it all while still wide-eyed.

Even though the family has been through this before to an extent — 25-year-old brother Tyler is a right-handed pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization, reaching Triple-A this season — it was a day they won’t soon forget.

“It’s a lot different because with Tyler, my middle son who’s with the Angels, he was an undrafted free agent, so he went to bed thinking his baseball career was over after the super regional last year for Florida State,” said Greg Warmoth, a news anchor at Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV. “For Logan, there was all this buildup and the anticipation of ‘This team likes him, that team wants to meet with him, agents and phones and things ringing.’ 

“It’s surreal. Honestly, it does not feel real.”

Even meeting Ripken a few years ago couldn’t equal the experience Wednesday as the 21-year-old unofficially embarked on his new life as a professional baseball player.

“This has been my dream my whole entire life and it’s awesome that it’s been kind of taken to the next step with getting everything worked out and signing,” the University of North Carolina product said. “I just look forward to getting back up here as soon as I can because this place is unreal.”

While nothing has been announced, Warmoth and Pearson are both expected to start out west with the short-season Vancouver Canadians in the Northwest League.

“I can’t wait to start playing again,” Warmoth said. “That’s why I’m here and why I play this game because I love this game.”

The Blue Jays have now locked up 29 of the 41 picks they made in the 2017 MLB Draft a little more than two weeks ago.

Pearson could be one of the first to arrive in the big leagues if they eventually decide his 100-mph fastball would better serve them in the bullpen, but Warmoth is without a timeline, at least personally.

“I trust the organization and I’m just going to go out there and play the game every day in the minor leagues and, hopefully, that time comes,” Warmoth said.