January 21: If Forney Is Comfortable, Thomas Would Be Thrilled To Start

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney and Ian Thomas’s dad agree about almost everything. Except maybe the timing of the baseball season.

“Yeah, my dad’s a real baseball guy,” said Thomas, via telephone from Richmond, Virginia where he attends Virginia Commonwealth University. “He’s been telling me, ‘You have to report to camp on time and make a good impression,’ and I’ve been telling him, ‘but I have exams that week.’

“Rick’s been completely understanding for me. He told me, ‘Get your degree. You education comes first.’ But I’ve had trouble convincing my dad. He’s old school. He wants me to report to work on time, but even Rick says, ‘Get that education.’ So my exams are from May 6-13. I’m trying to get the profs to let me write them early and some have already said OK. But I’ll probably be a couple of days late reporting.”

Forney has no problem with that. In fact, he encourages his young players to finish their degrees. Last year, left fielder Dee Brown took one of his final courses at the University of Central Florida by computer and could often be found doing his schoolwork in the Goldeyes clubhouse.

Interestingly, Brown just graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice, while Thomas expects to graduate early next year with the same degree.

In the meantime, Thomas is using every opportunity afforded him at VCU to get ready for the coming season. A 6-foot-4, 200-pound specimen, Thomas is only 22 (he’ll be 23 on April 20) and should attract some attention from big league organizations if he has a good year in 2010. The lanky left-hander arrived midway through last season (he first pitched on July 26) and appeared in only 11 games, but his 2.81 ERA and 1:1 strikeouts-to-innings-pitched ratio gave Forney plenty of reason to think Thomas could be a big-time contributor this season.

But first, he needs to keep working out and get in a few pre-season innings.

“We’re really lucky at VCU to have just an incredible gym facility,” Thomas said. “It’s the Cary Street Gym and it’s just an outstanding place to work out.

“There is also a club baseball team here and I asked Rick if I should pitch for them and he thought it was a good idea, just to get some innings in. It’s not an NCAA team, just an amateur club team, but it will give me a chance to pitch some innings without a lot of pressure before camp opens.

“I have no problem pitching out of the bullpen like I did last year, but if Rick ever needed me to start, I’d love to do it. I started in high school and college and I enjoyed that role. Whatever happens, happens. I’ll do whatever Rick needs. I’m just excited to get back there.