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College or Pros?: It will be a difficult decision for Munnelly, Thomas after the June 9-11 baseball draft
Journal Photos by Lauren Carroll and Bruce Chapman
Parker Thomas of West Forsyth and Chris Munnelly of Forsyth Country Day have both signed with North Carolina, but that hasn’t kept the professional scouts away this spring.
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Published: April 29, 2009
You can follow Chris Munnelly or Parker Thomas around, but you'll eventually have to dodge the radar guns.
When either of these over-powering right-handed pitchers take the mound -- Munnelly for Forsyth Country Day and Thomas for Mount Tabor-- the professional scouts come out in force.
Friends since their little-league days, Munnelly and Thomas are now in a league of their own. Each has signed with North Carolina, but that hasn't kept them from the watchful eyes of pro scouts.
"He is the only guy in Winston that has had as much exposure as me," Munnelly said of Thomas. "He's a guy I can talk to about all the scouts coming to games. It's hard to talk to some people about it because they haven't gone through it, but Parker understands. He is going through the same thing."
Munnelly is a 6-2, 170-pounder who has complete command of three pitches and plenty of room to add weight to his narrow frame. Thomas is an imposing 6-5, 230-pounder who -- while not quite as polished as Munnelly -- has the build and a 94-mph fastball that make him ready for professional ball.
Andy Partin, the first-year coach at FCD, knows Munnelly and Thomas like the back of his hand. Partin, who runs Impact Baseball, has coached both players on his elite Dirtbags summer team and keeps in touch with Thomas by text messaging.
Partin said that Munnelly is "bar none" the top high-school pitcher in the state, who consistently keeps his velocity between 88 and 92 mph.
"The things that separates Chris from every other pitcher in the state, he can throw his fastball, breaking ball, and he has a split-finger change-up, and he can throw those for strikes," Partin said, adding that Munnelly's strikeout-to-walk ratio is an astounding 92-to-3 this spring in 48 innings.
"It's tough for a kid his age to harness all that and throw them over the plate, and Chris has got that and it's not by luck. He works his butt off. He has a repeatable delivery that allows him to throw strikes and he works."
Partin said that if one of the two would go pro this summer, he thinks that Thomas is the more likely choice.
"You look at Parker, and immediately you think about projection, down the road a little bit," Partin said. "Down the road he might throw 100 mph, seriously. And I have heard scouts say that, with his big strong body.
"Parker is a guy who I think the Tar Heels should worry about a little more. With his frame, a fastball he can run up there 94 miles per hour.… I don't talk to him on a daily basis like I do Chris, so I am not sure he has put a price tag on himself or not. But he is a guy I know scouts really like."
Thomas was a ferocious competitor as a defensive end and tight end for Mount Tabor's football team and had scholarship offers from Duke and East Carolina. But Coach Mike Lovelace of Mount Tabor said that Thomas has a different personality when he is on the mound.
"You can tell he is intense and loves to win, but you can't get anything out of him -- he has a quiet killer instinct in baseball," Lovelace said. "It's weird to watch how he cranks it up on the football field. But it's different in baseball. When 20, 25 people are there watching you with radar guns, it's tough. He has handled it very well."
"Physically, he has all the tools. He has had five or six home visits from professional teams. Everyone asks me what I think he will do, and I don't want to sit down and get into projections because I don't want him to get off-task with us."
Thomas had a rough patch early in the season when the weather was cold and wet, but his arm has warmed up in the recent heat. In 28 innings pitched, he has 27 strikeouts against 10 walks and has an earned-run average of 2.75.
"The first game there were probably 20, 25 scouts," Thomas said. "It's been good because it pushes me to work harder off the field. I definitely want to explore my options, but I want to go to Carolina. It would have to be something that was life-changing to not go to Carolina."
Munnelly -- 5-2 this spring, with two earned runs allowed -- said he would eventually discuss with his parents how much money it would take him to turn pro early, but he doesn't seem to be in a rush because he said that playing at UNC will fulfill a dream for him.
"Out of high school, the professional teams, they like guys with Parker's build," Munnelly said. "They see he is as big as he will get and they can work with him. Then they see guys like me, with my size, I will have three years to grow and throw harder. It will be a hard decision
"It would help to have those years to grow and develop (in college). It would take a lot of money to make me go pro. I love Carolina."
Munnelly and Thomas were once part of the same rotation, but Thomas transferred to Mount Tabor after his sophomore year at FCD. Still, the two remained friends, getting together and throwing on the weekend and playing tournaments with the Dirtbags.
Whether they become teammates again, this time with UNC, depends on what happens June 9-11, when Major League Baseball's amateur draft is conducted. Two guys that will pay attention are Munnelly and Thomas.
"I'll be watching it, hoping my name will get called as early as it possibly can and praying that whatever happens is the best for me," Thomas said.
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
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