Before he participates in his first Michigan summer camp, Shea Patterson is getting some stick-and-ball work in.
As he hadn’t played the sport for a couple of years, some heads were turned when the U-M quarterback was drafted in the 39th round of the June Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers. Nearly a month later, he signed a 2019 contract with the baseball organization that would allow him to play for the team after his football eligibility expires next season.
Over the weekend, the Austin American-Statesman reported that the Rangers have assigned Patterson to their Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Patterson is taking batting practice with the team as well as other baseball-related activities, but is not playing in any games.
“The Rangers sent me here to be around these guys, learn from the veterans and pick up anything I can,” Patterson, who hasn’t played baseball since his junior year of high school, told the American-Statesman. “Oh, man, it’s a humbling and awesome experience. It’s remarkable to see how hard they work, how much they put into their craft”
That said, the baseball work won’t last much longer as Patterson will head back to Ann Arbor Thursday for the start of U-M’s summer camp Friday.
Patterson transferred from Ole Miss to Michigan in December of last year. He was ultimately granted immediate eligibility to play for U-M this season, and is widely viewed as the front-runner to claim the starting quarterback job in his first season in Ann Arbor.
A consensus five-star 2016 recruit, Patterson was rated by 247Sports.com as the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the country and the No. 4 player overall on its composite board. After starting the last three games of his true freshman season, Patterson started the first seven games of 2017 before going down with a season-ending knee injury.