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Schebler played five sports in high school. The way Iowa's school calendar works, baseball is a summer sport.
"I have a hard time explaining this to people outside of Iowa," he said. "I played football and basketball, and the coaches let me play soccer and run track in the spring."
Schebler was a shortstop in high school and mostly a designated hitter at Des Moines Area Community College. As a professional, he was shifted to the outfield.
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In 2010, Scott hit .446 with 20 homers for Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa. He was going to transfer to Wichita State.
But in June 2010, the Dodgers persuaded him to sign, via scout Scott Little, after they chose him in the 26th round. He signed for $300,000 on August 16 -- the signing deadline.
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In 2011, Baseball America rated Schebler as the 23rd-best prospect in the Dodgers organization.
After being out of the book for three years, Scott was back in, at #17, in the spring of 2014. They had him at #8 in the winter before 2015 spring camps opened, and at #14 a year later, early in 2016.
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In 2013, the Dodgers named Schebler their Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year award winner. Scott was second in the California League with 27 home runs. The outfielder also had 13 triples, 91 RBIs, 16 stolen bases, a .581 slugging percentage, and scored 95 runs in 125 games with Rancho Cucamonga.
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Scott held school track records in the 55-meter, long jump, and the 800-meter relay at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School in Iowa. But it wasn’t until his senior year of high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that the track team successfully lobbied Schebler to fit them into his schedule that already included baseball, football, basketball and soccer.
Because track season coincided with soccer season, he went to meets only when it didn’t conflict with soccer. Still, he set school records in the long jump and 55-meter dash.
“It was one of those things that kept me busy,” Schebler said of playing five sports. “I really enjoyed it. I liked the busy-ness. It kept me out of trouble, I think. Soccer helped me a ton,” he said. “Eye-foot coordination is a lot tougher than eye-hand coordination. I don’t know if it translated (to baseball), but you like to think it did.” (C. Trent Rosencrans - Baseball America - 4/08/2016)
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After first seeing Schebler in Spring Training, followed by his appearance in the 2014 Southern League All Star Game when he played left field for the Northern Division as a member of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, Bernie Pleskoff noted Schebler when he hit a home run off Braves prospect J.R. Graham. He also doubled and had a walk in that game. “Outstanding athletic ability. Brings thump, speed. Bright future,” Pleskoff wrote in his assessment of the then 23-year-old left-fielder.
Pleskoff also suggested how Schebler can improve his game: “Schebler has work to do recognizing pitches and being more patient at the plate,” says Pleskoff. “Using more discipline and recognizing breaking balls and off speed pitches outside the strike zone will be one area that will help with gaining better contact and cutting down the strikeouts. Pitchers, however, will have difficulty getting fastballs by him that are anywhere near the strike zone. Schebler can feast on mistakes.”
It seems Schebler has made some adjustments since Pleskoff watched him in the Southern league All Star Game. In the second half of the season, he stuck out 44 times and walked 26 times while posting a .385 OBP. He credits hitting coach Shawn Wooten with helping him shorten his swing.
“Everybody told me, ‘You have really, really quick hands,’” Schebler said. “I realized what they were seeing.” (Uhlman - thinkbluela.com - 11/16/14)
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Schebler wants to be a Dodger and play in Dodger Stadium but he is not letting himself get discouraged with the overcrowded Dodgers outfielder in front of him.
“You keep working hard,” said Schebler. “There are 29 other teams. I’d love to play for the Dodgers. That’s my dream. They gave me the opportunity. But if I let that stress affect me, the other 29 teams are not going to see what I have.” Smart kid. (Uhlman - thinkbluela.com - 11/16/14)
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Schebler's bloodlines are notable (both parents are engineers), but you won't find them on Baseball-Reference.com. Schebler was drafted in the 26th round out of junior college two years before Corey Seager. He was a multisport star at an Iowa high school that didn't have a baseball team playing spring ball. Actually, Schebler was better known for his football ability.
"My eventual JUCO coach, Dan Fitzgerald, told me baseball was my future," Schebler said. "Until my high school senior year, football was my sport. But my mom didn't want me to play football with all of that concussion stuff coming out. My coach really got my name out there. I really wasn't on the radar."
Schebler was taken as a "draft-and-follow" selection, then he was offered $300,000 to spurn Wichita State after his breakout summer in the Northwoods League in Wisconsin.
"Until then, I had never concentrated on one sport, so I never knew how good I could be," Schebler said. "I showed up at Rookie ball the same day as Joc Pederson. James Baldwin was on that club, and when I saw that he had every tool in the box, I thought that maybe I wouldn't have much of an opportunity. You always have a little self-doubt.
"But that was also the first time I realized that I was hitting right alongside of Joc and Baldwin, and that gave me the confidence that I was performing the same as their top guys. That was the turnaround for me. Maybe I have a chip on my shoulder, knowing I might only get one opportunity and they get four or five," Schebler said of the higher picks. "You're always searching for that little edge."
Seager said Schebler never displayed jealousy over the different hands they were dealt. "He's way too genuine to be jealous; you could tell that's not how he was raised," Seager said. "When I moved up to the Cal League in 2014 and struggled, he was always coming up with ideas to try to get me through it." Said Schebler: "Corey deserves everything he gets. Who am I to be jealous of him?" (Gurnick - mlb.com - 9/17/15)
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Scott talked about his mother, Deb: "Amazing woman; she took me to everything. I had an older sister, and she played softball. So the way it worked was our summers were kind of just slam packed. My Dad would always go with my sister. My mother would always take me to tournaments. We were already close, but that made us closer. She pretty much took me to every baseball event I've probably ever been a part of, pre-high school. Big thanks to her.
"Even now, she's the first person to text me after the game and the first person to text me in the morning. No matter the outcome, she doesn't care. If I need a little bit of motivation, she'll give it to me. If I need a pat on the back, she'll give that to me, too. I owe everything to her." (Sheldon - MLB.com -5/5/16)
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Scott is a naturally shy person.
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Schebler wears a red T-shirt under his uniform on which is inscribed: "Win 2483."
What does that mean?
Someone figured out the average Major League batter who plays most of the games during a season, and Schebler said, "That means win every pitch.
"I was not a top prospect coming up, and I knew my window was always limited," Scott said. "I've always had a little chip on my shoulder and I haven't lost that. It is a little burning inside me that keeps me going. I wasn't a top draft pick so I always knew there were guys in the organization that were going to get more opportunities than me. It puts a little chip on your shoulder because you always want to prove somebody wrong.
"I didn't even get any looks out of high school from any baseball schools," Schebler said. "I thought I was going with football. I've been a little bit of an underdog all my career."
In addition to baseball, Scott played football, basketball, soccer and ran track in high school, setting school records in the 50-meter spring, long jump and 800-meter relay.
He wound up at Des Moines Area Community College in his native Iowa. And when he finally got drafted it was in the 26th round, by the Dodgers.
TRANSACTIONS
- June 2010: The Dodgers signed Schebler, via scout Scott Little, after they chose him in the 26th round, for $300,000 on August 16 -- the signing deadline.
- December 16, 2015: The Reds sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox as part of a three-team trade in which, the Dodgers received 2B Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas from the Whte Sox. The Dodgers sent 2B Jose Peraza, Schebler and 2B Brandon Dixon to Cincinnati.