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Weiss appreciated the gesture. Until he gets all decked out in Diamondbacks gear, it will be a prized possession. The Diamondbacks fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams when they selected him with the 129th overall pick.
“It was just surreal,” Weiss said. “As cliche as it sounds, every kid who grows up playing baseball just wants to be a professional baseball player, and the fact that it’s a reality for me now, just talking to my buddies who love baseball, they can’t believe it. I’m just trying to soak it in and live in the moment. I know there are so many people who would do a lot of things to have my spot, and I’m just fortunate.”
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Weiss was 9-2 as a redshirt sophomore this season with a 3.40 ERA. He struck out 92 and walked 18 in 98 innings.
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Weiss followed the second day of the draft from a friend’s house in South Elgin. His advisor Marc Pollack texted him 10 minutes before the Diamondbacks picked to see how he was feeling.
Weiss told him, “I’m feeling good. I’m just hopeful. I’m having faith that I’m going to be a top-five round guy.”
There was no disappointment that he didn’t get drafted Monday on the first day of the draft.
“I got drafted,” Weiss said. “I can’t be much happier.”
The Diamondbacks have a mini camp for the newly-drafted players in Arizona, Weiss said, and then he expects to join their short-season team in Oregon: the Hillsboro Hops. He leaves for Arizona on Thursday.
“I haven’t signed yet,” Weiss said, “but it’s looking like what’s going to happen.”
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