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FRANKLIN TWP. - Delsea senior lefthander Frank Cairone threw his first pitch and immediately, the assembled group behind him hurriedly recorded the results.
This happened each and every time Cairone threw the ball. The fact that these were warmup pitches about 20 minutes before Delsea’s home opener against Highland didn’t matter.
Every move Cairone made, from stretching to long-tossing in the outfield, to the bullpen session before the game, was studiously analyzed by the horde of Major League Baseball scouts in attendance.
There is no telling at this point whether the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Cairone will hear his name called during the MLB draft from July 13-15.
What is definite is that MLB teams are at least doing their due diligence, to see whether Cairone warrants a selection.
In his first start of the year on April 2, an estimated 12 MLB scouts were in attendance, with their radar guns, their computers and notepads. Every movement, every pitch was recorded.
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This is draft season, but it really began in the winter when several MLB teams met with the Cairone family either in person or via a Zoom interview. Teams often do this, trying to get to know the player and the family.
These days, there is so much that goes into scouting a player. Whether a team selects the player or not, they will have as much intel on not only his playing ability, but his attitude, his character and his dedication to the sport.
No stone is left unturned.
A memorable home opener
It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the situation, seeing so many radar guns recording every pitch. The scouts are situated behind home plate.
Some may suggest that a player being scouted should blurt out the scouts and only concentrate on the game. Easier said than done.
“Obviously I notice it, but it doesn’t change anything,” Cairone said after pitching three hitless innings and striking out 10 (that’s right 10 in three innings) on 59 pitches in a 3-0 victory over Highland. “It’s just other people watching, it’s like my parents’ friends.”
Even Cairone ever so briefly, allows himself to briefly enjoy the attention of the scouts.
“It’s cool to see,” he said.
That is about excited as he gets about the situation. For Cairone, what he thinks is cooler is being able to mow down hitters one after another.
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If only his father could be so cool about all the events.
Frank Cairone Jr. (his son is Frank Cairone III) says his son is handling all the hullabaloo much better than he is. Upon seeing all the scouts on opening day, the elder Cairone was floored.
“This is nothing I expected, you think your kid is good, but this is kind of overwhelming,” he said. “Seeing the number of scouts at the game was overwhelming, to be honest.”
The elder Cairone was an outstanding athlete at Delsea as well. He is a 1998 graduate who played football, basketball and baseball, an era when the three-sport athlete was a much more common occurrence.
“I was a 5-10 righty who only threw 80 miles per hour,” his father said.
His son is much bigger and throws much harder.
Despite his son’s skill, his dad is most impressed at the way he has handled all the attention.
“I don’t know how he doesn’t feel the pressure,” his father said. “There are all these people watching him warm up and he is such an even-keeled kid that it doesn’t seem to bother him.”
Helping a prospect along the way
Cairone and virtually all prospects need help navigating through the complex draft process. Most potential draft prospects hire advisors.
Cairone is being advised during the process by Eric Hirschbein-Bodnar and former long-time Major League pitcher Bobby Witt Sr. The two work for one of the high-profile agencies, Octagon, which describes itself as a 'leading global agency in sports, entertainment and culture'.
In addition to advising players who are potential draft prospects, Hirschbein-Bodnar and Witt also represent several big-name baseball players, including two of the young stars of the game, Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
When Witt Jr. signed a lucrative extension before last season, his father said he didn’t get that much extra from his kid.
“He let me get a double burger when he signed,” quipped Witt Sr. in a phone interview.
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How Hirschbein-Bodnar and Witt came to hook up with Cairone was through a lot of detailed work.
Hirschbein-Bodnar said they came across Cairone through seeing video and then also by talking to scouts about him as well.
“We started calling around people who know Frank and the family and it turned out to be a good match,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said in a phone interview.
With a prospect, there has to be plenty of coordination between the high school coach, and the advisor.
It is Delsea’s head coach Vince Londino who tells Hirschbein-Bodnar when Cairone is pitching. Hirschbein-Bodnar then alerts the scouts of the schedule. It makes things much more organized.
Witt, who lives in Texas, is somebody who gives the added experience of having been through the draft process. He was the third overall player selected in the 1985 draft and would eventually play 16 years in the Major Leagues.
A righthander, Witt won 142 career games. After retiring in 2001, he began representing players in 2002 and has been doing it ever since.
“Some of the advice he gives me, I can’t get from anyone else,” Cairone said about Witt. “I have been working with Bobby and Eric a couple of months now and it has been working out great.”
Witt says that Hirschbein-Bodnar does a lot of the “heavy lifting,” but the former Major Leaguer is very much involved in the process.
Witt first met with Cairone and his family in January after seeing him throw during a showcase event. Before that he had talked to the family via Zoom.
“Frank is everything you want, he wants to work and get better, and I think he knows what he is capable of doing and he has everything you want in his makeup,” Witt said.
The biggest asset Witt brings is his four decades of experience in the game.
“Nothing this young man and family will go through I haven’t gone through,” said Witt, who adds the two have had several discussions on how to attack hitters, something most advisors aren’t qualified to advise about.
Gearing up for the season
Cairone is sitting in a good position. If playing professionally isn’t an immediate option, the lefthander has signed with Division I Coastal Carolina, which has been a recent hotbed for recruiting South Jersey athletes. For instance, Coast Carolina junior catcher Caden Bodine, a Haddon Heights graduate, who is a certified draft prospect.
Londino, the Delsea head coach, says that Cairone has all the traits of a top pitcher, the arm, the command, but he says his demeanor might be his best attribute.
“He is cool as a cucumber, he’s just a chill kid, he doesn’t talk much,” Londino said. “He is just a tough kid, a hard worker and he is handling everything well.”
One other thing in his favor is that Cairone will be 17 when the draft takes place and doesn’t turn 18 until September.
“You look at the body and he is not even 18,” Witt said. “My kids is still not done growing, so you can project a lot more with Frank.”
For the record, Witt Jr., who was runner-up in the American League MVP race, turns 25 in June.
Cairone understands what a fortunate position he finds himself in.
“I have two great options and whatever happens I am just focused on senior year right now and want to have as much fun as I can,” he said. “Just play as hard as I can every inning, this is it.”
No matter what happens, he doesn’t’ seem to feel the pressure of the constant scrutiny. For Cairone, the most important thing is the next pitch, the next game, regardless of how many are intently watching his every move.
Marc Narducci is a freelance reporter for the Courier-Post. He can be reached by email at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Delsea's Frank Cairone is one of the top pitchers in the region, hopes to hear name called on MLB Draft Day.
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