Within the world of unknown minor leaguers there are three main categories: extremely young guys from Latin America with no real record of their existence, the more obscurer and untalented American high schoolers, and late round college guys from small programs. Tom Zebroski, a 45th round pick in 2010 out of George Washington, is quite obviously in the third category.
In this new series, I plan on looking at some of the less heralded members of the Royal system. Zebroski seems a perfect start. His top three results on Google are two pages from the George Washington baseball website, followed by a fanshot from Royals Review. (Yay!) Compared to Zebroski, a relatively unloved prospect like Jeff Bianchi is a superstar.
Zebroski played four seasons at GW, hitting well across his career. During his senior season Zebroski hit especially well, posting a .429/.487/.733 line. That's typically what you need to do to get drafted out of the A-10. Zebroski, named the Conference Player of the Year in June, signed quickly and managed to play 40 games with the Chukars. Unfortunately for Zebroski, he struggled at bit against Rookie League pitching, hitting just .243/.280/.338. Not good. Especially not good when you also struggled in the Cape Cod League in 2009.
Zebroski, primarily a shortstop in college, also played some 2B and 3B with the Chukars. Most likely, the coaching staff there merely wanted to play a number of guys and see what could be handled. Needless to say, Zebroski's life would become much easier if he gets labeled as a fella who can handle short. If he receives the vaunted "plus" tag, all the better.
Quite plainly, the clock is ticking on Zebroski's career. He'll be 22 next season and although he's a middle infielder, he needs to hit. Soon. Listed at 5'10, Zebroski is a small guy, even by SS standards, and iffy scouting chops go far in Royals Land. Unfortunately, Zebroski's halting start makes it all the more likely that his time in the minors will be short. Though with a college background and a respectable playing profile he's well-positioned to land somewhere else in the game if he wants. Still, none of that is preordained. Zebroski's performance at GW was enough to get his foot in the door and if he plays well enough as a Chukar, Cougar, Blue Rock and Natural, he could find himself in a Royal uniform.