MWL1 Beloit Sky Carp

From the Ivy League to the Midwest League

Published on July 23, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Beloit Sky Carp News Release


BELOIT, WI - Most students who attend Ivy League colleges aren't there for athletics. Most of them are there to get a fantastic education and move on to a lucrative career. When Vince Voiro enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, he was of a similar mind. Baseball was only going to be part of his college experience, but during his college career, he transformed from a kid playing for the love of the game into a man with "pro prospect" written all over him. "I came into college and I didn't think I was that good of a player," said Voiro. "I got a lot better in my four years [at Penn]. That's when things turned around for me."

Vince Voiro was born in Camden, New Jersey and raised in nearby Cherry Hill. He went to high school at Cherry Hill West and was a three-time letterwinner, as well as a member of the National Honor Society. The whole time, Voiro had a vision. "You always dream of [playing pro baseball] when you're a little kid," he said, "but the reality of it didn't start coming up until I was in college." When Voiro joined the Quakers for his freshman year, he was given almost no time to adjust to this new level of competition. In his first year, Vince pitched in 13 games, starting five, and went 2-3 with a 6.57 ERA. While the numbers may not have been pretty, Voiro gained invaluable experience. "It helps a lot," he said. "You get experience and whether you do well or not, you can't let it bother you as much because you have a long way to go. Before you know it, the competition you're facing is not that big of a deal."

As a sophomore, Voiro dropped his ERA by more than a run and a half and he held the opposition to a .250 batting average. He continued improving as a junior, putting up a 4.28 ERA, striking out 57 in 61 innings and tossing five complete games. He also took an important step forward as a junior. "[My] changeup really came in my junior year of college," said Voiro. "It developed as a behind in the count pitch, something I can get back in the count with. That was big because, you don't want to have to throw fastballs every single time you fall behind." Soon after the end of that season, Voiro was given the chance to become a professional ball player. In the 2011 MLB Draft, the San Diego Padres selected him in the 47th round with the 1,433rd overall pick. The opportunity was tempting, but Vince decided the best thing for him was to return to Penn for his senior season. "It was a combination of things," he said. "I got drafted really late, so that made it a little bit easier. Also, having the opportunity to finish my degree because you never know what may happen once you turn pro. You have to take your chances on getting redrafted, but I decided it was best for me to go back."

After passing up on the chance to sign with a Big League club in 2011, Vince Voiro entered his senior season needing to make sure he put himself in a position to get redrafted in June. The season ended up being the best of his college career. In 10 games, his ERA was 2.45 and he struck out 59 batters in 66 innings while walking only 14. His season included two nine inning, complete game shutouts. "I was just consistent," said Voiro, "consistent each week, not every other week. Even when I didn't feel my best, I was still able to perform well enough to keep my team in the game. It was a combination of getting everything together throughout the season, not just the first half of the season." By the season's end, pro ball was most assuredly in Voiro's future.

When the day of the 2012 MLB First Year Player Draft arrived, Voiro decided to spend the day doing something other than simply waiting for a phone call. "I was with two of my best friends from home. We were just hanging out, doing other stuff, trying not to just sit there and watch the draft." Thanks to his outstanding senior year, Voiro's stock had gone way up and the Oakland Athletics had been paying attention. In the 15th round, with the 469th overall pick, the A's nabbed the right-hander, much to his surprise. "I'd never talked to the A's before," he said, "so I was surprised by that, but I wanted to go in the top 20 rounds so I was pretty happy. It was exciting." When asked about the first call he made after finding out, Voiro's answer was as you'd expect. "My parents," he said. "I have to call them first. Then I had something like 50 text messages. People don't want to just say congratulations, they want to know more. It was like an endless stream."

Like most players new to pro ball, Voiro was sent to the Arizona League for rookie ball as his first taste of the pros. It was quite an experience for him. "Last year was kind of surreal," he said. "You get there and you're right into it. Your workouts start right there and you try to hit the ground running. You rely on other guys to tell you what's going on." Whatever adjustments needed to be made, Vince made them without much trouble. Functioning as both a starter and a reliever, he went 3-2, had an ERA of 3.62 and struck out 41 in 37.1 innings while walking only eight. Voiro's time in the AZL also brought with it a big addition to his repertoire. "I picked up [a] cutter last year with my pitching coach," he said. "I always wanted to add that because I throw with sink on my fastball, so having a cutter is a good complement." After his debut season, Voiro went into the offseason with a clear idea of what he had to do. "I knew I wanted to get stronger," he said. "You have to stay active the whole offseason, you don't want too much downtime. I wanted to come back ready to play, healthy, strong and ready to go."

Spring training in 2013 was when the reality of professional baseball really hit Vince Voiro. "This year," he said, "you realize that this is your job, this is what I do. This isn't just something I'm doing for fun anymore." At the end of the spring, he found out his job would be taking him to Beloit, Wisconsin for a full 140 game season with the Snappers, meaning he'd be skipping short-season A-ball altogether. "I was excited," he said. "You want to be able to start the season as early as you can and getting into the flow of things is good. The sooner you start playing, the more opportunities you have to move up. Getting out here is definitely the first step."

When Voiro arrived in Beloit, he soon found out that he'd be a part of a piggybacking system, meaning that one time through the rotation, he'd start and the next time through, he'd pitch in relief. "We've made the pitcher to where we can move him in any direction," said Snappers pitching coach John Wasdin, "and they'll be comfortable with that. Now you have a total pitcher [who isn't] just one dimensional." This system brought with it some challenges for Beloit's young hurler. "You have to get yourself mentally ready at different points in the game," he said. "When you're starting, an hour before the game, you start getting ready. When you're in the bullpen, you stretch before the game, but then you have to keep your body loose. You can't get too mentally focused on the game because then you wear yourself out. You have to know that around the fourth or fifth inning, you have to start getting ready."

Despite a difficult April, Voiro didn't get discouraged and dominated throughout the month of May, posting a 1.32 ERA and going 3-0 with two saves. "He's better mentally on the mound from the first inning to the last," said Wasdin. "You don't see as many mistakes being made, he's starting to repeat his delivery, he's duplicating everything that he does pitch for pitch and that shows in that he's becoming more consistent in the way he goes about his job every day." In June, Voiro's success continued with an outing against Clinton in which he struck out a career high eight and only allowed one earned run in five and two-third innings. "He pitched more than five innings and only threw about 70 pitches," said Wasdin. "He had very good rhythm, very good extension, his velocity was up and his pitches were breaking closer to the plate. We call that being nasty in the zone." The month of July began with an outing that might not have been as good, but was just as big of a step forward. "Even though he threw six innings against Burlington and gave up three runs, he didn't feel like he had his best stuff," said Wasdin. "He now knows that he can win and compete with less than his best stuff. When you don't have your best stuff and you don't have good location, you have to use a lot of variables in off speed and move the ball around with different velocities. He did that against Burlington and he had success." Now, with less than two months remaining in the season, Vince's focus is simple moving forward: "You have to try and stay on your workouts, try and stay healthy and when you don't feel right physically, you have to know when you need to push yourself and when you need to back off a little. It's a learning process."

Going to an Ivy League school is ideal for people seeking careers in a lot of fields, but pro baseball typically isn't one of them. Vince Voiro didn't expect to be in the position he now finds himself in, but he certainly wouldn't change anything. "I was happy to play baseball for as long as I [could]," he said, "and then, as things progressed, it worked its way into my plans."

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