Penn Charter lefty chooses Duke over the MLB draft after an injury ended his senior season

The baseball season did not go the way Andrew Healy had hoped, as an injury limited the senior left-hander to just two early-season starts for Penn Charter.

Yet Healy’s value as a teammate was demonstrated during the rest of the games that season.

While he couldn’t help Penn Charter on the mound, Healy was there in full uniform, cheering on his team, even though it was painful not to be on the field.

The Major League Baseball scouts already knew about his pitching prowess. This showed something about his makeup.

“Even though it was hard, I am a team captain and it wouldn’t set a good example if I didn’t go to the games,” Healy said. “Some kids won’t wear the uniform if they are injured, but I was part of the team and doing my best for my teammates.”

And his teammates certainly appreciated his leadership.

“He is awesome and a great role model, and I have learned so much from him,” said Penn Charter right-hander Scott Doran, who will be a senior and has committed to Pittsburgh.

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Penn Charter coach Justin Hanley says that Healy, a Duke recruit, not only attended all the games, but the only time he would miss practice was when he had a rehabilitation session scheduled.

“It resonated with the younger guys, seeing him there all the time,” Hanley said. “It speaks to his character.”

Of course there is more than leadership that has made Healy a familiar name among MLB scouting departments.

A 6-foot-6, 185-pounder, Healy says he met with 18 MLB teams during the winter.

Then a senior season that began with so much promise was met with utter frustration.

In his second pitching outing, Healy felt discomfort in his elbow and came out after four innings. It turned out that he had a sprained ulnar collateral ligament, but no tear. The family alerted all MLB teams about the injury. He recently completed two months of rehab, which included light throwing. Healy is currently attending summer classes at Duke. In late June, he was given the go-ahead by his doctor to begin throwing.

Before beginning college classes, Healy let MLB teams know that he was taking his name out of the draft, according to his father, David Healy. This year’s draft is scheduled for July 17-19.

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“He wasn’t going to command the number required to negate going to Duke,” his father said.

One could only imagine what an injury-free season could have meant for Healy.

In his two starts this season for Penn Charter, Healy pitched eight innings and allowed one hit, struck out 19, and walked four. His ERA was 0.00. Plenty of MLB scouts were in attendance.

This came after his junior year when he was 5-2 with a 1.64 ERA, with 57 strikeouts and seven walks in 42 innings.

Last summer, his stock continued to grow as he pitched in high-profile events in places such as Fenway Park, Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium, which has hosted the SEC championships since 1988, and the University of San Diego, to name a few.

Healy was invited to the MLB combine in San Diego, where the top high school and college draft prospects converged June 14-20, but since he was sidelined, he declined the invitation.

Before Healy’s decision to pull his name out of the draft, scouts continued to inquire about him, Hanley said.

“He has off-the-charts pitchability, and once he adds a few pounds of muscle, you can see him sitting in the mid-90s in a year or two,” Hanley said.

There is still nothing to stop a team from selecting Healy in the 20-round draft. No doubt, teams will keep monitoring his progress. Even though he pitched only eight innings, Healy ranked No. 396 in Baseball America’s Top 500 draft prospects that came out after the combine.

What makes Healy such an intriguing prospect is that he is a left-hander who throws in the low 90s, but his fastball may not be his top pitch.

“He has an electric changeup,” said Penn Charter center fielder Vince Fattore, who will attend Duke with Healy. “He throws in the low 90s and his changeup is very deceptive and looks like a fastball until the last second and it has a drop to it.”

Duke coach Chris Pollard had similar praise.

“I love his frame and the fact he has a really nice left-handed arm action,” Pollard said in a phone interview. “He has a great feel for the changeup, which is hard to find in young guys.”

Pollard likes the way that Healy attacks batters.

“He has a competitive fire — his dad was a successful college pitcher and he has it in the genes,” Pollard said.

His father was a star at Penn Charter. Also a left-hander, David Healy had a promising career at Penn State until suffering a rotator cuff injury late in his junior season.

It was David Healy who taught his son the changeup.

“He was a quick study,” David Healy said.