Highland’s Hartlieb turns down Mets, will return to Lindenwood
After weighing all of his options, former Highland High School pitcher Geoff Hartlieb has decided to return to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. to pitch for the Lions next spring.
The 21-year-old right handed pitcher was drafted by the New York Mets in the 37th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft June 10.
Hartlieb said being selected with the 1,109th pick overall was later than he was hoping for, which was a factor in his decision to return to school. Whatever offer Hartlieb received didn’t assure him roster space on a team this season and it wasn’t enough to buy out the value of his education at Lindenwood.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful because it was still an awesome experience and I know I’m lucky to be able to do what I can do, but I expected to go much higher than I did,” the 2012 Highland graduate said. “When it happened as late as it did, I knew almost immediately the chances of the Mets making an offer that would get me to leave school was slim, and the fact that I have only 10 classes left to graduate with my degrees was a big factor also.
“So in the end, the decision wasn’t really a decision at all; they made it easy for me but I was close to 90 percent sure I was going back to school before our conversation anyway,” Hartlieb said.
And for the 6-foot-6 hard-throwing right-hander, going back to college isn’t a bad alternative.
“I am very excited to head back to school to get my degrees and develop as a pitcher,” he said. “I really like LU and am excited to get back with my coaches and teammates and put Lindenwood in a position to succeed and get more on the national map. I will be able to be near home for my family for another year, which I was worried about because of everything that happened with my mom.”
Wendy Hartlieb died this past spring after a battle with cancer. Chris Hartlieb, Geoff’s dad, is a history teacher at Highland Middle School, and Hannah Hartieb, 19, is Geoff’s younger sister who is an incoming sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Baseball was not even Geoff Hartlieb’s first love as his heart first belonged to basketball. And after earning all-state honors in basketball as well as all-area and all-conference recognition in both basketball and baseball his junior and senior years, Hartlieb chose basketball and headed to Quincy University. But after only one year of bouncing the ball on the hard court, Hartlieb transferred to Lindenwood and switched to baseball.
In two seasons since joining the Lions prior to the 2014 campaign, Hartlieb appeared in 27 games and racked up 57 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings pitched.
This past spring, he finished 2-3 with a 6.02 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. He appeared in 12 games, including five as a starter.
But pro scouting reports say Hartlieb’s statistics are not an indication of his potential. His fastball has been routinely clocked at 91-93 miles per hour and “has touched” the 94-95 range.
Hartlieb knows he has a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft next June and he is excited and motivated to do so as a hurler for the Lindenwood Lions.
“My coaches and I have a plan of action and we’re looking to build on my strengths, which are my athleticism, fastball speed, put-away slider and overall strength,” he said. “As a pitcher, I’m still very raw because of how little I played baseball and all the focus I put into basketball. I need to work on my control in general, baseball knowledge as a whole and fine-tune my mechanics to become more repeatable. I will continue to work on my weight room strength to add MPH and develop my off-speed pitches.”
Hartlieb’s main focuses are to stay healthy and contribute to his team’s success at Lindenwood while also preparing for his budding, potential professional aspirations.
“I appreciate the opportunity given to me by the Mets and I intend to show everyone what I can do this season and increase my stock for next year’s draft,” he said.
This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Highland’s Hartlieb turns down Mets, will return to Lindenwood."