Threshers Spotlight: Cord Sandberg

Cord Sandberg had a decision to make three years ago.

The two-sport standout out of Manatee High School was at his home in Bradenton on day two of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2013. Waiting.

While some predicted the young outfielder with a commitment to play football at Mississippi State would be a first-day MLB Draft selection, the first 73 picks flew by. Sandberg was still on the board.

"I didn't get any sleep that night," Sandberg says.

"I was kind of planning on hopefully someone taking me that first day, because I knew the longer and longer that I was gonna have to wait to get drafted, the less likely I would sign."

When his name was finally called, it was an easy choice.

"I was at the house, my dad was at work teaching P.E. at the high school, and my mom was subbing I think that day also, " Sandberg says, "So it was just me and my sister and we just pulled it up on my laptop."

With the 89th overall pick, the Philadelphia Phillies made Sandberg their third round choice.

"I was ecstatic."

"I was really excited, and my dad called me, mom called me, and it kinda escalated from there."

Ranked No. 56 of the draft's top 100 prospects by MLB.com, Sandberg had reason to hope for a first-day selection. His notoriety as an accomplished football star as well as baseball, and the possibility of Sandberg electing to pursue the former, may have deterred some teams initially.

"It kinda seemed that teams might have thought my interest in baseball maybe wasn't as great as my interest in Mississippi State and that I really wanted to go there, although in all of my at-home interviews I thought I was pretty straight-forward in the fact that if I'm able to get selected in a good situation to sign, that I was gonna sign," Sandberg says.

"But I ended up getting picked in a spot where I feel was right where I needed to for me, so I'm very thankful for the opportunity the Phillies gave me to be selected there in the third round."

In high school, Sandberg made a name for himself as a dual-threat quarterback. He was a three-year starter for the Hurricanes and led them to their first state championship in 19 years during his junior season in 2011. He received his first scholarship offer as a sophomore, and ultimately selected Mississippi State during the summer prior to his senior year.

Just after Sandberg nailed down his football commitment, he began to realize a future in baseball was also becoming more and more of a possibilty.

He played in several showcase tournaments that summer, and his strong performance spurred an invitation to the Aflac All-American game at Petco Park in San Diego with some of the best high school baseball prospects throughout the nation.

"A tremendous honor to be able to go to that game," Sandberg says.

"Just kind of being around those guys and being able to hang and feel like you belong, it kinda was, 'Ok, so if these are the guys who are also trying to get drafted, I'm right there with these guys. This is kind of an option for me when the time comes for the draft.'"

Now in his fourth season in the Phillies organization, Sandberg has enjoyed the chance to play close to home as a member of the Clearwater Threshers.

"My parents have probably come to maybe seven or eight games on the weekends" Sandberg says, "So it's been nice for them to see some of my games. Williamsport and Lakewood they weren't able to make a trip up, so this year in Clearwater was the first year, besides any spring training games, that they were able to see me play, which has been cool."

The Threshers play a four-game series in Sandberg's hometown in July, heading down to Bradenton to battle the Marauders from the 17th to the 20th. The Marauders make thier home at McKechnie Field, located less than ten minutes from the house where Sandberg was raised within walking distance of Manatee High.

Sandberg still makes a few trips back to Manatee in the offseason, where his father works as a P.E. teacher after a long tenure as an assistant coach for Hurricanes football.

"If I'm ever available to watch a game, I'll go there and sit on the sidelines and just talk to the players and guys," Sandberg says, "It's a pretty good atmosphere there in Bradenton to watch the high school football games."

This past offseason yielded little time to spend back home, however. Sandberg spent three months in Australia with the Canberra Cavalry in the Australian Baseball League.

"Australia was the best time of my life," he says. "Anytime players or anybody asks about that. I have nothing but great things to say about my experience there."

Upon returning to the States, Sandberg was bumped up to High-A with the Threshers to open the season. He got off to a strong start, batting .297 in April and representing Clearwater in the Florida State League's All-Star game in June.

One focus for improvement for the 21-year-old - who has played all three outfield spots this year - is adding power.

"Just being able to drive balls to all parts of the field in general, and a big part of that for me is being able to be consistently on time, which I feel like I'm kind of starting to do more and more often."

His progress has started to show in the numbers as well. After collecting just eight extra-base hits in 62 games in the first half, Sandberg already has seven - including three home runs - in 16 games in the second half.

These days Sandberg is solely focused on baseball, and eager to continue learning and working into the offseason through participation in winter leagues. He has already spent time in the Dominican Winter League (2013) and Australian Baseball League (2015), recognizing that the more chances he gets to improve, the better.

"I know for me, the only way that I'm going to be able to get where I need to be is to get live (at-bats) and play," Sandberg says.

"Every opportunity I have to do that, I have to take advantage of."