Former Wall High School standout Andrew Fischer is ESPN's projected No. 33 pick in the MLB Draft.
The numbers are eye-popping.
As a junior at Tennessee this spring, Andrew Fischer drove in 65 runs in as many games. He slammed an SEC-best 25 homers, with a .341 batting average to go with 63 walks (tying the program record for walks set two decades earlier by Chase Headley). He ended the season having reached base in 68 straight games, dating back to his sophomore campaign.
What catches your eye now are the MLB Draft projections associated with the former Wall High School standout. MLB.com ranks Fischer No. 29 overall in the class, while ESPN has him going at No. 33 in the draft to the Boston Red Sox and another website has him listed as the top first baseman available.
It’s heady stuff as the draft approaches, with the first round set to begin Sunday, July 13 at 6 p.m. (ESPN/MLB Network). Rounds 4 through 20 will be Monday beginning at 11:30 a.m. (MLB.com).
“Playing in the big leagues has been my dream for as long as I can remember,” Fischer said. “It doesn’t really feel real until it happens, and right now everything is up in the air.
“I’m not looking at this like it’s the endgame, or considering I made it. It’s just a stepping-stone. A different direction that I’m heading. The end goal is to play 15 years in the big leagues and win a couple of World Series and be a double digit-time all-star, so whatever the path looks like to get there is what I am trying to do.”
Rising to the top
If Fischer is selected in the first round, it would be the 12th time a former Shore Conference player has heard their name called that early in the proceedings, and the first since 2016, when Barnegat’s Jason Groome (12th overall) and Jackson Memorial’s Matt Thaiss (16th overall) were both taken in the first round.
For Fischer (6-1, 210), it’s been a steady rise during his three seasons in college. As a freshman third baseman at Duke, he belted 11 homers and drove in 33 runs, before hitting 20 homers and driving in 53 runs as a sophomore third baseman at Ole Miss.
And when his college career path took him to Tennessee this spring, he emerged as one of the country’s top sluggers.
“It’s certainly an exciting time. Nerve-wracking as well,” said Fischer’s father, Brian, the long-time wrestling coach at Wall. “You always want the best for your kid. You know how hard he worked and all that stuff, and it’s a dream come true for him.
“I think year-to-year he has always tried to better himself. He is pretty good at listening to everybody and filtering out what he needs to and makes decisions on what is important and work on things that needed improvement. One of the things that was important to him this year was his strikeout-to-walk ratio, and he has definitely improved on that.”
Andrew Fischer ready for the next level
The foundation for a breakout season came last summer in the Cape Cod League, where Fischer had 15 hits and 14 walks in 19 games.
“I think when you’re in these big conferences, the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, your damage is done in hitters' counts and pitcher mistakes," he said. "If you fall behind against these elite pitchers you’re not giving yourself a favorable chance to be successful, so just kind of working to get myself into favorable counts,”
Now the 21-year-old is ready to test himself at the highest level, as he looks to make the climb through the minors and reach the big league.
“I always thought that I could do it, but I think it starts to feel within reach when you start to see these guys get picked and they make their MLB debuts, that I played in college with,” he said.
“I played against probably 25 to 30 different guys within the three years I’ve been in college baseball that have already debuted in the MLB. So that is what you get from playing in the ACC and the SEC. It gives you hope. It gives you a sense of belief. I can hang with these guys, especially since I feel like I’m one of the best at the level I’m at currently. With that confidence it becomes something that I believe.”
Fischer will become the latest former Wall player to get drafted in recent years, with pitcher Trey Dombroski, who played at Monmouth, getting taken in the fourth round in 2022, while pitcher Teddy Sharkey, who played at Coastal Carolina, went in the seventh round in 2023.
Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for over 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Andrew Fischer MLB Draft preview: NJ Shore native projected as early pick
Category: General Sports
