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Revelations about Oregon State pitcher shake up 2017 MLB Draft

By Benjamin Chase

Mar 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oregon State Beavers mascot Benny Beaver before the first half against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oregon State Beavers mascot Benny Beaver before the first half against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich had big news about his past this week shake up his standing in the 2017 MLB Draft.

In absolutely horrific news this week, The Oregonian released an article on Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich, revealing his past conviction for sexual crimes against a minor. The offenses were prosecuted when Heimlich was 15, and the victim was between four and six years old when the acts took place.

This story comes as Heimlich’s team, the Oregon State Beavers, are currently ranked #1 in the nation and in the super regionals of the NCAA college baseball tournament, hoping to earn their way to Omaha for the College World Series.

Heimlich is a big reason why as well, as he is the nation’s ERA leader, going 11-1 on the season with a 0.76 ERA. He had been working his way up major league draft boards as a possible first round selection, certain to go in the first three rounds of the draft. He’s a guy with less than elite raw stuff, but showing an ability this year to command his pitches very well and sequence his pitches in a way that was extremely effective against even the best collegiate hitters in the country.

Journalistic integrity

The timing of the revelations in the article had many questioning the integrity of the report, with some even claiming a possible journalistic tie to in-state rival Oregon could have led to the digging that produced this information.

However, that is not the case at all here. The Oregonian was actually putting together a feature piece on Heimlich to highlight the star pitcher of the star team in the state when they did a public records check. In those public records, they found that Heimlich had failed to properly register and had to be brought in by the local authorities to register this spring.

The details on what exactly happened within that particular incident is a bit murky, as the charges were dismissed. However, the charges did put into public record a citation regarding his failure to register and that is what The Oregonian found in their basic public records check on Heimlich.

Collegiate and MLB rules

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The major thing that this brought into question from many fans are the rules for allowing a sexual offender to play in the NCAA or in MLB. For its part, MLB does not have any league-wide rules placed into the collective bargaining agreement regarding past convictions. The major issue of player conduct that is addressed in the CBA is domestic violence, and in the new CBA that went into place this season new regulations on anti-hazing and anti-bullying went into effect.

The NCAA rules are more hazy, and the linked article above in the initial report on Heimlich covers those scattered rules in much more detail, but the basics are that, like MLB, the NCAA leaves specific determination about whether they want to employ/recruit players with previous criminal history to the schools themselves.

In other words, while Heimlich has been either significantly moved down the draft boards of many teams or completely removed from a number of other teams, there is no specific provision that would prohibit a team from selecting Heimlich next week during the MLB Draft that takes place June 12-14.

Going forward

Oregon State won without Heimlich on Friday night, defeating perennially tough college baseball power Vanderbilt, leaving them one game away from Omaha and a berth in the College World Series. However, tonight they face Vanderbilt ace Kyle Wright, and having Heimlich to go toe-to-toe with Wright would be ideal for the team.

Instead, Heimlich released a statement yesterday, requesting to be excused from the team. He did not put a definitive time on when he would like to return, and he did dress and watch Friday’s game from the dugout, so he could feasibly return in the College World Series if the Beavers made it.

In the end, this is a horrific crime, where an 11-year-old girl is having her worst nightmare brought out into the public sphere. While the name of the victim has been protected, certainly reliving the experience through the broad media coverage of this incident has not been helpful for her recovery from the trauma that took place.

Next: MLB Mock Draft, Version 6.1

MLB will have a very interesting public relations case on its hands if Heimlich is signed or drafted by one of its clubs. Hopefully, heavy consideration for the victim is taken in making a decision on the future of Heimlich within MLB.

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