Sachem High School's Rafe Schlesinger has taken another step in his lifelong dream that has had many bumps along the way. Schlesinger, who was once cut from his travel baseball team, is now a major leaguer.
Taken #113 overall in this year's Major League Baseball draft the big lefty has been one of the most talked about prospects and he lands with an organization that is known for developing young arms. The Cleveland Guardians are widely considered one of the best farm systems for young pitchers having produced Shane Bieber, Tanner Bibee, Emmanuel Clase and most recently Gavin Williams to name just a few, and now Schlesinger. He is the first Sachem player since 2014 when Alec Sole went to Tampa in the 18th round and is the 10th Sachem player to be drafted all time.
The Miami Hurricane stands 6 foot 3 inches and weighs 200 pounds. This season he made 15 starts for Miami, going 5-5 with a 5.83 ERA, but he is a converted reliever and showed his upside with 72 strikeouts to just 25 walks in 78 2/3 innings. Schlesinger, who pitched for the Long Island Titans in travel ball, dominated at Sachem East. He was an All-Long Island selection and won the Gibson Award as the top pitcher in Suffolk County. As a senior he had a tiny 0.70 ERA and 80 strikeouts. Cleveland might send him back to the bullpen but he has big time upside as a starter. Scouts rave about his fastball, which touched 97 this season, but it's his makeup that is so alluring.
Schlesinger has had to overcome more than just being cut from a youth league to get to this point in his career. He suffers from a tic disorder that sometimes results in twitches and other such mannerisms. He not only has overcome that, but he has had others reach out with similar issues and have told him he is an inspiration.
Other Long Islander's drafted were Cameron Leary and Anthony D'Onofrio, while Cole Zaffiro was signed right after the draft.