Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

46° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Two Wildcats picked by Chicago Cubs in MLB Draft

Imagine being picked in the Major League Baseball draft by the team you grew up loving, that stole your heart at an early age and has been your favorite ever since.

Now drop that and imagine you were drafted by one of your beloved team’s division rivals. Do you become a fan?

If you’re Northwestern junior Eric Jokisch, who was drafted Tuesday by the Chicago Cubs, the answer is yes.

“The Cubs have been showing interest since word go, and it turns out they were the team that wanted me more than anybody else,” Jokisch said. “If they’re the ones that believe in me more than anybody else, then I guess I’m a Cubs fan now.”

The Cubs drafted Jokisch-a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan-in the 11th round with the 340th overall pick. NU’s star lefty said the Cubs were one of the teams that showed interest in him since Fall Quarter.

Also a new Cubs fan is Jokisch’s battery mate, NU senior Chad Noble, who was chosen by the Northsiders Wednesday in the 37th round, with the 1,120th pick.

Important decision ahead for Jokisch

Jokisch admitted he was a little disappointed early on, since scouts he had talked to projected he would go higher than the 11th round. But the disappointment gave way to a wave of relief when the phone finally rang.

“I was home with my family. We were kind of following along,” the Virginia, Ill., native said. “When I finally got the call that (the Cubs) had picked me, it was a big relief that finally ended all the madness. It was a big relief.”

Jokisch burst onto the scene his first season at NU, when he won Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and notched seven conference wins with a 4.68 Big Ten ERA. He returned his sophomore year to hurl a less impressive campaign, with a 6.88 ERA.

Then the southpaw played in the Cape Cod League. That, he said at a practice in February, was his turning point. Jokisch learned to love baseball again in the Cape, where he posted a 1.36 ERA. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder’s mental game strengthened, and he was ready to come back for a strong junior season.

This year, Jokisch-whose arsenal features an 87-89 mph fastball, a solid breaking ball and a stifling changeup-hurled 55 innings of Big Ten play, posting a 3.6 conference ERA and earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. His standout campaign helped cement the boosted draft stock he earned in the Cape.

Now that he has been drafted, Jokisch and the Cubs have some contractual discussions ahead of them. The lefty said he wouldn’t rule out coming back to NU for another year if the contract doesn’t end up the way he envisions.

“Am I going to be an important person in their system, or am I more filling out a roster?” Jokisch said. “If I’m just filling out a roster for them and they’re not really thinking that I’m going to make it through, I don’t want to do that. I want to come back and help the Northwestern team that I’ve committed to for four years. If I’m going to take away that commitment, then it better be for a better situation. If that’s not a better situation, I’m not going to leave.”

Coach Paul Stevens said he would be “extremely excited” if Jokisch decided to come back to play for NU one more year. The skipper said, though, that he would be just as excited for Jokisch if he decides to leave.

With his fate resting in negotiations with the Cubs, Jokisch thought forward to the next day’s 20 rounds of drafting and said he hoped one of his best friends, Noble, would be selected by a club.

“I hope he gets the opportunity to play,” said Jokisch, interviewed before Noble’s selection. “He deserves it. He’s by far the best catcher I’ve played with since I started playing baseball, even out in the Cape, with apparently the best players in the nation. Chad was the best catcher. I hope somebody gives him a chance so he can show them what he can really do.”

Another Cubbie in the house

Seven rounds into day three of the draft, Jokisch’s hopes for his friend and teammate were answered, in the best way possible. Noble had been drafted by the very same team that picked out Jokisch the day before.

For Noble, an Atlanta Braves fan, the pick wasn’t quite as ironic as it had been for Jokisch. But it was certainly coincidental. The star pitcher he has been catching for the last three years is now possibly going to be moving to the next level with him. Stevens said if Jokisch chooses to leave, the two players would add that helpful comfort level for one another.

“At the professional level, you need a lot of people that you can depend on and trust,” Stevens said. “It’s a business, and in all businesses there’s a lot of stuff that goes on. I think it will be tremendous that the two of them are going to be there to help support each other.”

From the beginning of the season, Stevens lauded Noble, calling him the “backbone” of the team and “one of the best catch-and-throw guys as there is in the nation”-so good, in fact, that he was put on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the best catcher in the country. Noble threw out 47.8 percent of baserunners attempting to steal, ranking among the top catchers nationally.

One year ago, Noble was contacted by the New York Mets, who said they would offer the Rockwall, Texas, native $125,000 plus an amount to return to school after his professional career. Noble declined the amount and opted to stay to graduate from NU with a degree in economics. In a May interview, Noble said various scouts told him he could bolster his stock in the 2010 draft if he raised his batting average above .320 or .330, after a .297 campaign in 2009.

The backstop did just that, and then some. Noble hit a team-third .354 on the season, knocking 16 extra-base hits and 24 RBIs.

“Chad, from the standpoint of swinging the bat, has really developed far more confidence in his ability to hit,” Stevens said. “He was always a very good catch-and-throw guy, but I think Chad is at a much different level right now when it comes to his hitting than he was a year ago. That’s going to benefit him tremendously.”

The soon-to-be graduate said in May that if he didn’t get drafted this year, he would think about his junior-year decision for the rest of his life. Fortunately for Noble, he doesn’t have to do that. Instead, he and Jokisch are now facing the option to do what they love for a living.

Their coach might have said it best: “I’m just glad these guys are going to get an opportunity to go out and play and try to get to the levels and attain the dreams that they have every time they close their eyes.”

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Two Wildcats picked by Chicago Cubs in MLB Draft