The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Max Beatty. And he’s loving every moment of it.
The former Pacific Lutheran University ace pitcher – who overcame testicular cancer to return to the baseball field a year ago – achieved his ultimate dream when he was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 32nd round of the Major League Baseball draft on June 8.
“It’s been something I’ve been looking forward to (for) forever,” Beatty said. “It really is just a dream come true. I just took a step toward getting paid to play baseball.”
Beatty was back in his hometown of Vancouver watching the draft with family and was in communication throughout the process with the Padres, who had hinted at taking him earlier.
“They told me ‘hey, maybe these next couple rounds,’” Beatty said. “The next couple rounds went, and I started to sweat a little bit. (But) in the back of the mind I knew, it was going to be the Padres.”
Beatty was on the phone with the Los Angeles Angels in another room of the house when he heard his family erupt in cheers after the Padres selected him with the 958th overall pick.
It was a quick turnaround, as Beatty signed on June 10 and flew down to extended spring training in Arizona with the Padres’ rookie league team, in preparation for their opening game on June 20. And while he will have to work his way up through the chain to make it to the pros, Beatty certainly is up to the task of hard challenges.
Beatty was considered one of the top prospects in Division III after his sophomore season at PLU, but began noticing some health changes in the summer and fall.
“I was just seeing signs of stuff,” Beatty said. “I noticed something a while before that but didn’t think much of it. It kind of kept getting a little bit worse.”
It was on Christmas break in 2011 that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. But instead of letting it discourage him, Beatty tackled the two-month round of chemotherapy – five days a week – with his eyes set on returning to the field. Despite missing the 2012 season at Pacific Lutheran, Beatty got a clear diagnosis that summer and joined the summer league’s Corvallis Knights in June 2012.
“My mindset was, ‘Let’s get this done with and get back to it,’” Beatty said of the cancer treatment. “It was awesome. It’s finally over, I’m healthy and back here doing the thing I love.”
Beatty recently completed his junior season for the Lutes and was dominant, putting up a 7-5 record with a 2.48 earned run average in 87 innings, with 90 strikeouts and just 13 walks. While his career at Pacific Lutheran is done, he certainly hasn’t taken the friendships he has made for granted.
“My team at PLU was so supportive,” Beatty said. “Those guys are family, we have a really tight-knit group.”
Beatty now has his sights set on cracking the starting rotation for the Arizona League Padres, and is also aiming to advance to the Single-A Eugene Emeralds, who began their season on June 14.
“It’s all starting to kick in,” he said. “One of my goals is to pick as many brains as I can and critique myself. (I want to) improve every day as a ballplayer.”