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Patrick Monteverde a Rarity in Professional Baseball; Goes from Division III to Professional Baseball in Four Years
It’s not often that Division III athletes become professionals in a sport. Heck, it’s pretty rare that any college athlete becomes a professional. According to various sources, it’s in the neighborhood of just two percent of college athletes become a professional. However, there are numerous times in which people prove the data wrong. For Pittsburgh native and southpaw pitcher Patrick “Pat” Monteverde, he’s living proof that odds don’t always matter.
At Fox Chapel High School, Moteverde was a three-year letter winner, became a First-Team All-Section as a junior and senior, was named to the First-Team Valley News Dispatch All-Star Team, and was a four-time scholar-athlete for the Foxes. However, his college career, he felt, was best slated to begin at the Division III level.
“The coaching staff was very welcoming of myself and my family and there was a level of comfort there that not only myself, but my family felt as well. It was also a beautiful campus located right near Virginia Beach.”
It’s only fitting that his college career and professional baseball career begin with the Marlins as he turned down several other opportunities to attend Virginia Wesleyan University (WVU). In his lone season at VWU, he was a standout for his team. He became the ace of the staff and racked up accolades like being named an ABCA Second Team All-South Region, the 2017 State Rookie of the Year, a 2017 All-State Second Team honoree, the 2017 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Rookie of the Year, a 2017 All-ODAC Second Team selection, and he was named the ODAC Pitcher of the Week for the week of Mar. 7-13, 2017. Monteverde had just a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) over 15 appearances and struck out 60 batters in 82.2 innings of work. He ended his season 7-2.
After one season at the Division III level, he moved back closer to home to link up with the Seton Hill University Griffins, a program that is among the best in all of Division II baseball. “I just wanted a little more on and off the field, and that’s exactly what Maz (Marc Marizzaldi) and the rest of the Seton Hill staff and players offered.”
The WPIAL product continued his strong pitching in 2018 in his first season as a Griffin. He won four more games while sporting a 2.92 ERA. He struck out 78 more batters in 71 innings of work and came up clutch as he went 7.2 shutout innings in an NCAA Atlantic Regional win over Shepherd University. The Griffins won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title that season as well and narrowly missed out on winning the Atlantic Region within the NCAA Tournament. However, 2019 and 2020 both would be years filled with adversity.
His final two seasons with the Griffins featured him making just four combined starts as a season ending injury forced him out of action in 2019 and COVID-19 forced the young 2020 campaign to be canceled. However, it was not the end of his college baseball journey as now a Seton Hill University graduate and still holding college eligibility, Monteverde was ready to try his hand at the Division I level in the Big 12 Conference.
The Texas Tech University Red Raiders came calling, and it was a chance he could not pass up. “I wanted to win a World Series and play at the highest level of college baseball,” he said about why he chose Texas Tech. I developed a routine for myself to make sure I’ll be ready on the field, and Tech was very accepting of it. They let me do what I needed to be ready on the field.”
After two disappointing years, Monteverde was back and showed out at his third different school and third different level of college baseball. He won seven more games in 16 appearances while striking out 101 batters over 86.1 innings. He also helped Texas Tech, a program that was ranked in the Top 25 all year long, win 39 games overall, win the Lubbock Regional, and advance to the Lubbock Super Regional. On a personal level, he became an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
Later, in 2021, he became one of seven Red Raiders to be drafted by a Major League Baseball organization on day two of the Amateur Draft. Monteverde became an eighth round selection of the Miami Marlins with him being pick 239 of the draft overall.
“Getting drafted was a long time in the making,” Monteverde explained. “I’ve dreamt about it for a while now and to do it with my family and friends there meant the world. Although it was something I’ll never forget, that’s not the end goal. I am still working towards the big leagues and winning a World Series one day.
As Kobe Bryant once said, “the job is not finished”, but that does not mean there are not moments to appreciate from his time as a baseball player so far. He lists his favorites as winning the PSAC title in 2018, starting opening day for Texas Tech in front of 33,000 against Arkansas at Globe Life Park, pitching a shutout in front of 40 friends and family on two separate occasions (one in Houston at Minute Maid Park against Sam Houston State and again at West Virginia University), and the regional win against the University of North Carolina with his parents in attendance.
Through his college journey, he has earned a degree in business administration from Seton Hill and is almost completed with a master’s degree in sport management from Texas Tech University. For now, he’s preparing for his second year as a professional baseball player. In 2021, he was assigned to the Florida Coast League where he played for the FCL Marlins in rookie ball. He appeared in seven games, with him starting one game and racking up two holds and a save in 14.2 innings of work. The lefty struck out 16 batters and struck out 9.82 batters per nine innings pitched.
With his assignment unclear for the 2022 season, Monteverde will be ready for whatever assignment the Marlins organization has for him. It’s already been quite the journey to make it to professional baseball, but he has bigger plans in store than just being a professional.
“My college baseball journey is extremely unique, going from Division III to Division II to Division I, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The memories and relationships I’ve made from each school I’ll hold on to for the rest of my life. The adversity I’ve been through has shaped me into who I am on and off the field today. Never taking a day for granted and never not giving everything I have into a situation whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. You can’t grow if you don’t fall. I look forward to adversity now as I know I’m ready to take on whatever is in my way and look forward to where I’ll be on the other side of things.”
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