Feb. 08--Corey Ray now happily admits his father was right.
He didn't feel the same way as a senior out of Simeon, when a disagreement over a major life decision caused temporary teenage despair.
In 2013, the Mariners picked Ray in the 33rd round of the amateur draft, and a professional baseball career might have been weeks away. Corey Ray Sr. instead insisted his son attend Louisville on a baseball scholarship so he could learn to be independent, make strides on the field and have a degree to fall back on.
In the 21/2 years since, Ray, 21, has worked at those tasks and positioned himself for an important five-month stretch for the 6-foot, 190-pound outfielder.
He enters his junior season as a Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-American for a Louisville team that expects to be among the best in the country when it opens at home against SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 19.
Ray also is ranked No. 5 overall by MLB.com among prospects for the June draft, the top position player in their rankings, and Baseball America rates him third among college prospects.
If he maintains that standing, it would be a rarity for a Chicago baseball player in recent years. The city hasn't produced a top-10 pick since the Phillies selected Simeon's Jeff Jackson fourth in 1989.
It also might prove turning pro was worth the wait.
"As a kid, I'd never seen that type of money in my life, so I wanted to have the opportunity to play professional baseball (in 2013), but my dad was big on education," Ray said. "He told me I wasn't ready for the speed of that game and everything that life has to offer, so he sent me to college. It's the best decision I've ever made."
Ray spent the fall talking to major-league clubs after his stock skyrocketed during his sophomore season at Louisville.
He was a reserve for much of his freshman year before he became a starter at the end of the regular season for a team that made the College World Series. He returned in 2015 to hit .325 with 15 doubles, 11 home runs, 56 RBIs and 34 stolen bases in 65 games for the Cardinals, who advanced to the NCAA super regionals. He then starred for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team over the summer.
Louisville coach Dan McDonnell thought Ray handled his slow-starting freshman season well and said he benefited from the guidance of then-senior outfielder Cole Sturgeon, who now plays in the Red Sox system.
McDonnell touts the left-handed-hitting Ray's versatility to bat anywhere from first to fourth in the order because of his combination of speed and power. He said Ray also has the defensive and offensive capabilities to play any of the three outfield positions. Ray, who also throws left-handed, believes he is a center fielder.
But some of McDonnell's biggest praise was about how Ray has become better prepared in his two years in the program.
"He just came back that sophomore year such a mature kid, so focused," McDonnell said. "A lot of times the great ones really want to be great. And I've said that about (former Downers Grove South star) Nick Burdi, and I've said it about his brother Zack, and now I say it about Corey. They have a lot of professional qualities."
Ray said the biggest difference in his sophomore season was "mental toughness."
"Freshman year, I was a guy who took naps anytime I could because I'm tired from 6 a.m. workouts, (a guy) who gets home from practice and doesn't open a book because he's so tired," Ray said. "I got caught up in hype and what type of player I thought I was, what type of player everybody was telling me I could be. Between my freshman and sophomore year, I learned to put my head down and work."
Ray was speaking recently while on winter break at a restaurant near the Illinois-Chicago campus, accompanied by his friend Anthony Ray, a St. Rita alumnus and Cardinals rookie-level minor-leaguer. They were on their way to work out together after the meal, just as they have since Corey Ray Sr. directed their early training sessions when they were children.
Ray Sr. works for Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation and would wake up his son before dawn Saturday mornings as he got ready for work driving a street sweeper, sending him to run a hill near their former Princeton Park home. Ray was a member of the White Sox's Amateur City Elite youth baseball program, and his father thought the sessions were beneficial -- and burned energy for dad's benefit.
Ray said it taught him a work ethic at an early age, one he found he had to kick into another level when he reached Louisville. The key will be to maintain that in a season that can be challenging for players in Ray's position, who could see millions of dollars in signing bonuses if they crack the first round.
Nick Hostetler, the White Sox director of amateur scouting, said during a session at SoxFest last month that Ray would be "an exciting option" for the club if available at No. 10.
"From the time he was a junior in high school until today, each year you've seen a physical change in Corey, body-wise," Hostetler said. "He's gotten stronger, and he's even leaned out his muscle mass some to the point where it's more baseball productive. He's an exciting player."
Amid the hoopla, Ray said his focus is on leading Louisville to a national championship.
He said he will try not to do too much to boost his draft stock, knowing that can backfire. He tries to ignore draft reports, though he does admit he dreams of one day of having the resources to give back to aspiring Chicago baseball players, like major-leaguer Curtis Granderson has.
McDonnell, who wants Ray to work on offensive consistency and drawing more walks this season, said he thinks Ray is a "good teammate" and will be able to draw support from several other potential draftees. That includes two other Chicago-area preseason All-Americans, pitchers Zack Burdi (Downers South) and Kyle Funkhouser (Oak Forest).
Ray Sr. said he wants his son to stay humble.
"Kids get that type of attention, and they get really, really excited," he said. "It throws them off their square a little bit. I'm like, 'Man, just keep doing what you're doing and everything will work itself out.'
"That's keeping him focused on (baseball) instead of worrying about the bright lights, the agents and the teams coming at him. He's excited, but he's not overexcited."
ckane@tribpub.com
