The Winston-Salem Journal says that 8th Round pick Brandon Culbreth will sign with the Astros for $150,000 plus a fund to pay for his impending college education.
Culbreth:
"I was very, very surprised. I was expecting to go anywhere from the 10th to the 40th, 50th (round). To go in the eighth, it was a big surprise. Even my agent was surprised."
Culbreth will head to Kissimmee:
"We are going to Target to load up on supplies that I can live on. It's crazy. It will hit me when I am at the airport about to board the plane. It hasn't hit me that I am a professional baseball player."
Culbreth's high school coach, Andy Partin:
"Last year, he didn't even pitch the last month of the season because he couldn't get it done. That's proof of a guy who spends a whole year in the weight room, working on his mechanics and buying into what coaches tell him to do. And he just blew up. Last year he was at 86 (miles an hour) and this year, he hit 95. That tells you that you have to commit to the weight room. This guy, he gets drafted Tuesday, and is in the weight room Tuesday and Wednesday. That tells you a lot. I couldn't be happier for him."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
