The Gophers baseball team opens its Big Ten Conference season tomorrow at Indiana and coach John Anderson knows that almost for sure this is his last spring with a junior center fielder whose athleticism sometimes amazes him. Eric Decker likely will pass up his final baseball season in 2010, by then having chosen a pro baseball or football career.
The Gophers, 13-6 in non-conference games and ranked No. 25 nationally by Baseball America, have a roster mostly of players who even coming out of high school were pre-determined to play for Anderson. Not so with Decker, though. He had played baseball for Rocori High, basketball too, but football was the sport he made all-state and produced a football scholarship to Minnesota.
Decker was a football redshirt in fall 2005 as a freshman and didn’t play for Anderson in 2006 or 2007. Last year, his first college baseball season, Decker hit .329 with three home runs, 28 RBI and nine stolen bases. This season his numbers are: .333, one home run, five RBI and five stolen bases.
The football resume is so far more impressive. Last season he was a consensus first team All-Big Ten Conference selection and one of 10 finalists for the Biletnikoff award recognizing the leading receiver in the nation. He was named honorable mention All-American by SI.com. He led the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards per game for all games. Decker’s 84 receptions broke his own school record, and his 1,074 yards were the second-highest in school history.
Decker, though, has not only missed a couple seasons of college baseball but he hasn’t played the sport in the summer when players further develop. Anderson sees more than numbers when he thinks about Decker as a baseball player. The coach thinks about Decker’s ability and potential.
Anderson was asked earlier this month how good Decker can be and whether his center fielder should choose a career in football or baseball. He answered: “I am not going to tell Eric what to do because it’s his life and his career. …He looks like a major league baseball player in a uniform. He’s a tremendous athlete. He’s a left-left guy which is a premium in baseball. A left handed hitter, left handed thrower, center fielder.
“They rate the players based on their tools. There’s five basic tools, running, throwing, hitting, fielding and then power. I would say right now he’s probably got three skills that I would rate as major league skills. His running, his throwing, and his ability to hit for average. That’s a pretty good place to start. …
“But it’s going to take some time for him to develop his skill set, especially his hitting to play at the major league level. So it’s probably going to take him two or three years of minor league baseball to climb that ladder, to get more experience playing the game. He hasn’t played since high school. He doesn’t play in the summer. We only get him during the season. We don’t get a chance to train him. …
“I am amazed how quickly he picks things up because of his athleticism. I think, to me, he projects to have a chance to play in the big leagues. He’s probably in the (pro)football world a middle of the road type of player, just because of his physical size, his running speed compared to others. Not saying he couldn’t play (and) be a possession receiver in the right offense in the NFL. Probably a punt returner, kickoff returner kind of guy, but you’re one injury away from your career being over very quickly. He got beat up physically this last year in the football season. I think that’s worn on him a little bit.”
Decker was drafted in the 38th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, becoming only the third Gopher since 1966 to letter in football and be selected in the MLB draft. Anderson said Decker is now listed among the top 100 prospects in college baseball.