The news was announced at almost 10 a.m. Tuesday morning — former Crowder College pitcher Mike Kickham was now a professional baseball player.
The southpaw was tabbed in the sixth round by the San Francisco Giants in June’s first-year player draft and signed a minor league contract Monday night.
“I’m very excited,” Kickham said from his hometown of Springfield, Mo. “I’m getting my passport ready now. I’m going to Scottsdale, Arizona today to get a physical done.”
He will find out where he will be assigned sometime this week, but the choices could be staying in Arizona for the team’s Rookie League team, or heading to short-season Salem-Keizer to play in another Rookie League.
“It’s kind of been a whirlwind lately, we got the deal done late last night (Monday),” Kickham said. “I’m very excited and ready to head out west.”
BaseballAmerica.com reported that Kickham signed for $410,000, which exceeded Major League Baseball’s slot recommendation of a deal worth no more than $150,000.
Kickham, who stands at 6-foot-4, had a good deal of success this summer for the Sedalia Bombers college baseball team. In five games, he was 3-0 with a 0.61 earned run average. He gave up only two hits and finished with 42 strikeouts and seven walks. Batters hit a miniscule
.028 against him.
The summer season came on the heels of a good season at Missouri State. A graduate of Glendale High School, he signed with Missouri State after a year at Crowder College.
For the Bears, he was 4-9 with a 5.25 earned run average, but struck out 103 batters in 96 innings. He also saw his fastball bump up to the low-to-mid 90s.
“I’m happy for him to get the opportunity to play pro baseball,” Crowder coach Travis Lallemand said. “He is very deserving and he proved what he needed to prove at the Division I level. When Missouri State was having a sub-par year he was a bright spot. The development he has made in the last two years is unlike anything I have seen … he could be pitching in the big leagues some day.”
