Right-hander Andre Scrubb was selected by the Dodgers in the eighth round of the 2016 First-Year player draft out of High Point University in North Carolina.

Scrubb, one of six siblings, was born in Woodbridge, Virginia and attended C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, where he was a four-year letter winner. In his senior year with the Bulldogs he was 6-2 with a 1.57 ERA and 59 strikeouts. At the plate, he hit .395 with 23 runs batted in.

He had a three-year college career with High Point University in which he recorded a 4.28 ERA with 16 wins over 187 innings pitched. He struck out 187 and struggled with control walking 114.

Scrubb initially felt that he would not get drafted after a disappointing freshman year at High Point. What worked for him in high school failed to translate at the next level and Scrubb blamed himself for not realizing it sooner. “I think I was a little cocky,” said Scrubb. “That’s why I was in the bullpen.”

However, that realization did pay off and he not only moved into draft territory but moved him into top-10 round consideration after his sophomore year.

He did have a strong year as a sophomore at High Point and followed that year up with a good season with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Collegiate League in the summer of 2015. Needless to say, MLB scouts are in attendance at all of the Cape Cod Baseball League games.

In his Junior Year with the High Point University Panthers he finished 8-6 with a 4.86 ERA and an eye-catching team high 94 strikeouts in 74 innings. However, perhaps his greatest impression was made on May 7 of 2016 against the Radford University Highlanders. Although he had no idea he was doing it, the scouts in attendance were quite aware of a 97-mph fastball that he threw on several occasions. Scrubb was a bit shocked when later advised by his coach how hard he had been throwing as he usually tops out at 93-94 mph.

During a May 7, 2016 game against Radford University, Scrubb hit 97-mph on the radar gun, which immediately caught the attention of every scout in attendance – including one from the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Brian Schneider)

Although his fastball caught most of the attention, the 6’4”/265-pound Scrubb has another pitch that is his out-pitch. He considers his curveball to be his best pitch. It is, in fact, considered to be a power curveball thrown in the 78-83 mph range.

”I think everyone in the stands knows it’s coming,” Scrubb said. “But I try to throw it low and as hard as I can so it looks like a fastball, so it really helps out getting hitters to swing and miss.”

High Point coach Craig Cozart said Scrubb has worked hard to improve during his college career.

“He’s got plenty of fastball, but his breaking ball is absolutely special,” Cozart said. “It’s virtually unhittable and it’s a legit swing-and-miss pitch. So, when you have that and you get into trouble, like he did in the first inning, and you can eliminate scoring situations by missing bats, you have a pretty special guy.

“He studies his craft,” Cozart added. “He’ll sends me texts at 10:30 at night with photo clips and video clips of himself from last year to where he is now. He studies his trade. He is never satisfied, and he’ll do the same thing after this outing.

“He knows what he’s capable of, but he doesn’t take that for granted and he works at it,” added the High Point coach.

His hard work paid off and the big right-hander entered the 2016 season rated the No. 99 college draft prospect by Baseball America and the No. 106 prospect by d1baseball.com.

Andre Scrubb went from not expecting to be drafted to seeing his lot improve so that he was selected in the eighth round, which might have been a steal for the Dodgers.

“It means the world to be drafted,” Scrubb said. “After my freshmen year when I got hit pretty hard and wasn’t sure how I fit in Division I baseball to battle back and improve enough that I heard my name called is a dream come true. My years at High Point have been amazing and really helped me get to this point. Coach Cozart turned me from a thrower to a pitcher and the guys really motivated me and pushed me.”

Scrubb made his professional debut with the Arizona League Dodgers on July 2, 2016, pitching a scoreless inning against the AZL Brewers. On the season in the Arizona Rookie League he posted a 2.13 ERA in 10 games while striking out 18 in 12.2 innings pitched. He walked seven.

Scrubb posted a 2-1 record and very impressive 2.13 ERA in his 12.2 innings of relief for the AZL Dodgers in 2016.
(Photo courtesy of Rianna Riveros)

Scrubb will be 22 on January 13, 2017, so at some point during the 2017 minor league baseball season he should make an appearance with the Low Single-A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. Depending on how his control plays out in spring training, Andre Scrubb could even break camp with the Loons.