Prospect Profile: Connaughton leaving the hardwood behind for the mound

Hoops and hardball.

Orioles minor league pitcher Pat Connaughton is real good at both. Soon his concentration and efforts will be fully devoted to baseball and then the Orioles are anxious to see how he will do.

The Orioles drafted the 6-foot-5 right-hander in the fourth round out of Notre Dame in June. The two-sport standout is currently averaging 12.7 points per game for the Notre Dame basketball team.

Connaughton scored his 1,000th point for the Irish on Nov. 15, but come spring training he will be concentrating solely on baseball. He talked about that in June when he was at Camden Yards to sign his O's contract.

"I'll graduate in December and when basketball season is over, I'll have no more obligation to Notre Dame," he said. "I'll have degree in hand and basketball obligation complete and be able to attack this thing full-time."

Connaughton could sign a pro baseball contract while still maintaining eligibility for Notre Dame basketball, which he did last summer. He signed with the Orioles for a slot bonus of $428,100.

The day the O's drafted him, Jonathan Mayo of MLBPipeline.com compared him to another former Irish two-sport star.

"I can't help but see parallels here between him and Jeff Samardzija," Mayo said. "Samardzija was an All-American receiver at Notre Dame. Like Connaughton, very athletic, tall, really good fastball that climbs to 95 (mph). But these guys didn't dominate in college, probably because they were playing two sports at a very high level. Look at what Samardzija's become.

"Lot of upside with this guy. Needs to refine his secondary pitches, the control and command need to come. But when he is playing baseball full-time, he has a chance to do that."

The Orioles saw Connaughton's fastball top out at 96 during a brief stop at short-season Single-A Aberdeen after the draft. He went 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA over 14 2/3 innings. He allowed 13 hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts playing for manager Matt Merullo.

Merullo saw a pitcher that was very athletic with not only a good fastball, but strong makeup that scouts also liked.

"He had exceptional late life on the fastball with some good natural movement and is athletic," Merullo said. "He has a great makeup about him that stands out the most. He is energetic with a contagious personality. A special guy to be around. His fastball, just as a baseball tool, would make him stand out."

Connaughton left Aberdeen at the end of July to return to Notre Dame and play with the Irish basketball team on a summer tour of Italy.

But he left Aberdeen with a good outing to remember him by. In his last start on July 29 against Tri-City, he pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings on just one hit.

"He showed kind of a funky pitch. It was not quite a split-finger, but it was an unconventional grip on the changeup that showed the ability to be a putaway pitch," Merullo said. "The only thing with his slider is it could get flat at times. But he's got a real good aptitude as well. He has a feel for pitching and pitchability.

"He is a guy when you talk to him between innings and look him in the eye, you feel comfortable he is out there. I'm excited for his chances and he really wanted to make the most of his time last summer."

Connaughton, who turns 22 on Jan. 6, was the 121st overall pick in the draft and signed by O's scout Dan Durst. After his basketball career ends, he'll report to O's minor league spring training and is expected to begin the 2015 season pitching in Single-A Delmarva's rotation.