First impressions: Michael Curry
Michael Curry jumped to the top of the queue in my player first impressions while following the Dust Devils’ opening night game against Salem-Keizer.
And if someone from the Dust Devils team was going to write a queue optimization algorithm, it turns out Michael Curry might be just the one to do it. Curry was actually an Honor Roll Computer Science major during his time at the University of Georgia—a degree he intends to complete:
“I hope I make it to the top and make a living out of this game, but it will end one day,” Curry said. “I’m absolutely going to come back and get my degree. During my time at Georgia, I took a lot of pride in my academics.” (Gainsville Times)
But what’s this? Even though it would be great to have him fire up a solarized themed bash terminal in the dugout and throw down a slick code jam using the vim text editor, according to the Gainsville Times the tool that’s going to get the playing time isn’t his ability to sling scripting languages.
Curry showed [his pride in his academics] by landing on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, but his accomplishments on the diamond are what made him a desirable prospect for San Diego. (Gainsville Times)
No, ma’am—he wasn’t drafted for his Computer Science skills. He was drafted for his bat.
Because Michael Curry is a professional baseball player.
Indeed, Curry was drafted in 2018's 16th round not as a software developer but as an outfielder—and even that was a recent change for him. Initially playing with Georgia as a catcher, he played most of his games at DH. Then this year he transitioned the outfield.
Playing DH in today’s game, Curry went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored. (Even though pitchers bat in the National League, the Dust Devils’ Northwest League plays with the DH.)
“My bat is what carried my career. No question,” said Curry, who was told by San Diego he could be used in the outfield or at first base. “My focus is my bat, and we’ll go from there.” (Gainsville Times)
Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline agreed with Curry’s self-assessment:
You can see quite a bit of that power on display in this grand slam during a Georgia game. And it looks like Dust Devils coaches have plenty of confidence in Curry’s bat, too, hitting him third in the lineup today behind Luke Becker and Owen Miller.
Speaking about his playing style in this video, Curry echoes some of the sentiments of new teammate Owen Miller, who said he wanted to play “calm and relaxed.”
Says Curry, “I just want to be relaxed and let the game come to me.”
The game’s arrived, and so has Michael.
