the lineup card: vol 2
In preparation for his senior season at Mundelein High School in Illinois, flamethrowing right-handed pitcher Ryan Geraghty set out to simplify his windup. Through his eyes, eliminating any extracurricular motion would allow him to consistently and effortlessly locate his pitches with pinpoint control.
In hindsight, his goal sounds straightforward. In reality, it was much more complicated.
Geraghty, 18, had already secured a scholarship to play Division I baseball for Wichita State University before committing to this new mechanical switch. His old delivery was effective enough to propel him from the “small-town kid with zero offers” label to becoming one of the consensus top-ranked pitchers in the country. Experimenting on the mound was not foreign to Geraghty. He had already spent his fair share of bullpen sessions toying around with different pitch grips, trying to unlock a competitive advantage. But this time around, early unsteady results prompted fear to creep into the back of Geraghty’s mind.
“Oh God, did I just ruin everything?” Geraghty thought to himself. Each pitch that left his hand felt more uncomfortable than the last. Feeling discouraged, Geraghty tried to go back to his original motion, but even that did not feel right to him anymore.
Geraghty remained persistent, telling himself he had to work through it. Every bullpen he threw was dedicated to solving one problem. If one thing felt right, the rest would follow. By the time his first start rolled around, Geraghty finally felt comfortable.
“Most effortless gas I’ve ever thrown,” Geraghty asserted. His slider felt great again, the changeup was easier to make move the way he wanted, and his sinker developed nicely. Pitching from the stretch even feels better thanks to the repetition and simplicity of his new mechanics. After a low point this offseason, Geraghty now has full confidence that this will be a great year for him.
From Mundelein to Wichita
Baseball has been Geraghty’s number-one passion from the beginning.
“I’m pretty sure I was swinging a bat out of the womb,” Geraghty joked over the phone. “I was jacking bombs in T-ball and after that, it was over.”
Geraghty comes from an athletic family. His father played baseball all the way through college and was a “JUCO Bandit,” a term coined by former player and popular YouTuber Eric Sim to describe high-quality junior college players that grind to improve so they can transfer to a four-year school. Geraghty’s mother grew up playing softball, volleyball and soccer. His sister is a Division I lacrosse player.
Geraghty credits his parents and sister for being the best support system he could ask for. He enjoys watching games and exchanging baseball-related TikToks with his father, who believed in his talent from an early age. He knew that once his son got out in front of coaches and they saw his film, they would be interested.
Grabbing their attention is not so easy, however. Geraghty, who grew up in a small town, noted that unless you play for a top 100 program in the country, you have to do a lot of the work yourself.
“It’s hard to find every single kid,” Geraghty said. “Me and my dad were like, ‘What’s gonna make them come to us?’”
They sent out videos and emailed every single college in the country. At one point in time, Geraghty thought he did not have the ability to play at a top-tier program like Vanderbilt, but he sent them an email anyway because, as he put it, “the worst they could do is say no.”
Geraghty estimates that he heard back from 5% of them in the beginning. Once he hit the “magic number” of 90 MPH on the radar gun, more and more schools began contacting him.
He had a month’s worth of phone calls with Wichita State’s recruiting coordinator and built a great relationship with their pitching coach, Mike Pelfrey. He also met their head coach at the time, Eric Wedge, who is no longer with the program. Pelfrey pitched in the big leagues for 12 seasons, most notably with the New York Mets. Wedge played catcher in the majors for four seasons but is perhaps best known for his stints as manager of the Cleveland Indians from 2003-2009 and Seattle Mariners from 2011-2013.
The idea of learning from two people who spent many years in MLB piqued Geraghty’s interest since that is his ultimate goal, so he decided to take a visit. They showed him around the scenic campus and Eck Stadium – Home of Tyler Field, which ultimately sealed the deal. Geraghty described going up a hill to get to the stadium and being amazed by the size of the place. He could feel the atmosphere, even without fans in the seats. As soon as Geraghty got home, he made the call.
“I want to be a Shocker, man.”
Building a platform
Geraghty had spent most of his life saving up for college, so he never spent any money. After receiving a full ride from Wichita State, he no longer needed to use those savings for that purpose. He decided to invest in himself instead.
“I tried stocks and I realized I’m not that smart, so why not actually create something where I can build a platform?” Geraghty said. After all, he has done it before.
When one of his friends hit the 50,000 follower mark on TikTok, Geraghty thought he would give it a try. It seemed relatively easy to gain popularity on there, but after his first eight videos gained no more than 100 views, Geraghty was puzzled. He deleted all of those and posted another regular video of his bullpen session. The lighting was “perfect” and it was so quiet that you could hear the hiss of the baseball traveling through the air. That one got around 100,000 views.
Geraghty’s account took off. He began posting every week, prioritizing video quality since that appeared to attract the most views. Each video was related to baseball, showcasing his velocity progression over the years, from throwing 75 MPH at age 13 to 92 MPH at age 16. He currently has 18.4K followers.
Using his platform-building skills, Geraghty decided to start his own clothing brand – VELO Apparel. The name was inspired by his own nickname “Velo” which came from him jokingly saying “dude, that’s velo” and “holy velo, dude’ every time he plays catch and displays his upper 90s velocity. He sells hats, shirts and hoodies with custom designs. It took Geraghty about three weeks to gain 1,200 followers for his brand, getting some help from Cubs pitcher and Mundelein High School alum Ryan Borucki, who repped his custom apparel on social media. Geraghty took a brief break from marketing to focus on his schoolwork but started back up on April 1.
A portion of the proceeds benefits Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, a program that helps educate, advocate, and destigmatize mental health. During a high school assembly, Geraghty learned about the stories of Tyler Hilinksi and Ryan Jefferson – two promising athletes whose lives were cut short as a result of their mental health battles.
“It hurt my soul, man,” Geraghty said. “Hearing about that just doesn’t sit right with me and I thought I would help out as much as I can. I can’t really do the research. I’m not a scientist, but I can definitely donate some of my time and money to try and help out the cause.”
Preparing for the next level
Geraghty has been training with Pat Robles, a player development coach in the Houston Astros’ minor league system. Robles reworked Geraghty’s entire routine, emphasizing that each workout or bullpen session has a specific purpose.
“I used to just go out there and play catch because I knew that I had to throw every day,” Geraghty explained. Robles taught him to lock in and “work the kinks out” on each pitch, even when he is not throwing at full effort. Each bullpen is now dedicated to whatever Geraghty struggled with the week prior. When he throws lightly during catch, that is the time to get a feel for different pitches and make small mechanical adjustments, such as avoiding drifting with his lower half. “You can work out some problems with little effort throwing just by simply having focus.”
On game days, Geraghty does whatever he can to get the blood flowing before taking the mound. He listens to upbeat Travis Scott, Skrillex, ACDC and Guns N’ Roses songs to hype himself up, even if some of those genres are left out of his normal playlist. Then, he crushes a Bang Energy drink before locking in for his 45-minute pregame routine.
“If I don’t feel the jitters, then it’s not good enough,” Geraghty said. Although those feelings typically mellow out by game time, the pregame energy rush helps him lock in. “It’s kind of like a mental thing. If I feel good because of the adrenaline I have, then I know I’m gonna go out there and deal.”
Geraghty’s delivery is best described as a cross between White Sox reliever Joe Kelly and Mariners starter Luis Castillo. His arm whips through the zone from a low three-quarter slot, making his slider devastating for right-handed batters. He has the ability to get ahead of lefties with his changeup and locate with every pitch, including his fastball that sits in the mid-90s at tops out at 98 MPH. He allowed just two hits all of last summer.
Geraghty knows that will not always be the case at higher levels. Pitching against some of the top talents at travel showcases has taught him that anybody can hit a bomb and anybody can strike out. He expected them to put the ball in play more often, but he loves the challenge. When he gets an out against someone as skilled as Walker Jenkins or Max Clark, it feels better. At the same time, he tries not to let the outcome of the previous at-bat affect him.
While Geraghty has already signed to play for Wichita State next season, that has not scared away MLB teams from expressing interest. He has heard from all 30 teams and regularly communicates with half of them, including the Dodgers, Rays, Royals, and both Chicago teams. Pitching at Tropicana Field and Kauffman Stadium in showcases has already given him a glance at what his future may hold.
“I couldn’t even describe it. It’s just like, it’s just better man. The backdrop is just like bigger and feels more surreal,” Geraghty said about pitching in big league ballparks. “The mound is perfect…the dirt’s always…like, your cleats are sinking into it but not really. It’s pretty awesome.”
Geraghty also had the opportunity to wear the uniform of his hometown White Sox during the Area Code games. Although he grew up rooting for them, he is not opposed to suiting up for one of their rivals if they call his name on draft day.
“If somebody wants to pay me to play baseball, I will be on that team no problemo,” Geraghty confidently said.
He described having two great options – staying in college or going pro. Making that decision will depend on money, fit and other factors. Right now, all he is worried about is having a great senior season and helping lead his team to the state championship.
“I gotta perform this year. I gotta step up. I gotta be vocal,” Geraghty said. “Our town might care if we came in second, but nobody else does. Coming in first is the only thing that matters.”