Image Courtesy Of Anchor Bat Co.
'The Perfect Fit': What Drew Tucker Toman to the Blue Jays
July 17th was a long day for Tucker Toman, a bit longer than he expected.
While friends and family gathered at his grandparents' home in South Carolina, Toman spent most of his MLB Draft day tucked away in a small back room with his parents and agent. The switch-hitting high schooler was seen as a first-round talent by many, but the draft's opening round came and went without his name called.
Toman was in touch with teams throughout the first round, including the Blue Jays, but as the second round started the anticipation ended. When Toronto called after pick 40, willing to meet Toman's bonus number if he waited another round, it was an easy yes. Other opportunities may have been out there, but he wanted to be a Blue Jay.
Toman walked out of the back room rocking a Jays hat, and the draft party erupted. It was a long day, he said, but Toman ended up where he wanted to be. And 37 picks later, it was official.
"The experience was definitely a rollercoaster. I was so glad when it was over, but it couldn't have gone any better," Toman said. "The Blue Jays were really my number one team."
Toronto was first in contact with Toman before the prospect's high school senior year in Columbia, SC, and remained in constant communication as Toman pushed himself up draft boards that year. Teams were enticed by his switch-hit power and a strong Florida travel ball performance on the same team as top-five picks Elijah Green and Druw Jones.
Toman worked out for a few different teams at big league parks and private fields prior to the draft, but his showcase with the Blue Jays came on the very last day players could meet with teams in June 2022. Toman visited Toronto's player development complex in Dunedin, FL, where he hit on the field and took grounders at a few different positions. The Blue Jays also had him meet with some of the organization's top executives, including GM Ross Atkins, Amateur Scouting Director Shane Farrell, and Assistant GM Tony LaCava—who Toman now calls "his guys."
"I met with some other teams and GMs as well," Toman said. "But there was just something different about Toronto, it felt like they already knew me."
The Toman name carried more weight than the average prospect, as his father, Jim Toman, coached college ball at Liberty, Middle Tennessee State, and other spots for 33 years and had relationships with scouts and executives around the game. In fact, Jim grew up playing high school baseball against Toronto's Assistant GM, LaCava, and Jim's mother would frequent LaCava’s family’s restaurant just outside of the city for donuts and coffee.
While Jim mostly stayed out of the draft process, he talked with Toman about what the right draft-day decision would be. Toman had a commitment to LSU he could fall back on, so he was looking for the right fit and a specific signing bonus. Unlike most professional sports drafts, where you have little say in where you end up (unless you're a Manning or Lindros), baseball players can decline to sign with the team that selects them and go to college or sit out and try again the next year.
Toman and his father talked about what he should value in an organization, and honed in on player development. It wasn't just the shiny new Dunedin complex and weight room that caught Toman's eye during his visit, it was every staff member, rehab coordinator, swing coach, and roving instructor that came up to him, shook his hand, and introduced themselves. The ascendance of young hitters like Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk was a selling point, too, and Toman saw that same potential in himself.
"What they had going on, of course with the big-league team, but with the player development guys, it sounded like the perfect fit for me," Toman said. "The team speaks for itself, they've produced a tonne of young talented hitters over the past couple of years, and that's what I am."
Toman's been around high-level baseball environments his entire life. Since he turned five, he's hit in batting cages and snagged grounders on college fields everywhere his dad coached. But after the Jays selected Toman in the '22 Draft and expeditiously came to a signing bonus agreement, the prospect's developmental expectations reached another level.
He went to Toronto's two-week 'draft camp' in Florida, where Toman and other pro-ball rookies were toured around the complex and met the coaches, psychologists, and training staff that would help get him back into game shape in time to appear in 11 Florida Complex League games in August.
Toman hit .290 with a 10% walk rate in his first taste of pro ball, but when the season ended and the winter started, the real work began. The 19-year-old spent the entire offseason at the Dunedin Complex, attending 'camps' focused on different aspects of his game—strength camp, speed camp, swing camp, and more.
"I know for a fact, just from talking around to other guys, not many other teams have their guys come in like this," Toman said. "Really focusing on key things with their players in the offseason and it's paying dividends."
Listed as 190 pounds ahead of the draft, Toman's now bulked up to over 200. His right-handed swing, which lagged slightly behind, has taken a noticeable jump forward and he's worked with infield coordinator Danny Solano to up his proficiency at shortstop, third, and across the diamond.
The only times Toman went home this offseason were for holidays, when Hurricane Ian struck Florida's Gulf Coast, and a two-week break before Spring Training, when it starts all over again. But that grind is what he signed up for. It's what he prioritized during the draft process and why he waited for Toronto to call, tucked in that back room on an unexpectedly long draft day.
"That work, that development," Toman said. "That's what's gonna make the superstars of the next generation."
