PHOENIX — Brendan Summerhill initially wanted to follow brother Colin to Loyola Academy and didn’t develop into a potential first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft until his junior season at the University of Arizona.
But the seeds that helped him become strong-minded and fearless were planted at Whitney Young High School.
‘‘It was such a great opportunity because I was going to be a 14- or 15-year-old playing with 18-year-olds,’’ Summerhill recalled last week in a video interview. ‘‘And I knew that I may not have gotten that chance at Loyola. We obviously would never know, but I think it was honestly the best decision for me, going to Whitney.
‘‘I’m so happy that I went there. I loved my time there. I learned a lot there as a baseball player, as a student, and it was, quite honestly, probably the hardest school I’ve had to [attend]. My senior year was really tough academically, and I think that set me up really well for my freshman year here.’’
Several local scouts watched the 6-3, 195-pound Summerhill dominate as a left-handed hitter and center fielder but agreed his pro stock would benefit greatly from college seasoning.
That move has paid off, as Summerhill might become only the second player from the Chicago Public Schools since 1989 to be selected in the first round of the draft.
Outfielder Corey Ray, who starred at Simeon, was a first-round pick of the Brewers in the 2016 draft out of Louisville and is in his second season as the manager of the Cubs’ affiliate in the Arizona Complex League. (Simeon shortstop Shawn Livesey was a supplemental first-round pick of the Astros in 1991.)
In its recent mock draft, Baseball America projected the Cubs — who play a half-mile from where Summerhill grew up — to select him with the 17th overall pick.
‘‘That’s pretty cool,’’ said Summerhill, who is projected by MLB.com to go to the Orioles with the 20th overall pick. ‘‘That would be such a dream come true, maybe a little bit more than the next team [White Sox], just because of how I grew up going to games at Wrigley Field. And watching them win the World Series, watching them suck and watch them do all that.
‘‘I was one of the biggest Cubs fans. Javy Baez was one of my favorite Cubs.’’
But Summerhill, who is advised by the Boras Corp., emphasized he would be giddy to be picked by any team in the first round. He also realizes there’s unfinished business as the Wildcats enter the Big 12 Tournament this week and try to improve their standing for when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced next Monday.
Summerhill finished the regular season with a .390/.500/.642 slash line in 32 games, despite coping with an array of injuries in the last 10 months. His 2024 Cape Cod League season ended abruptly after he made an over-the-shoulder catch and crashed over a fence in the all-star game in late July, then he missed a month this season with a fractured right hand suffered March 23.
Draft expert Jim Callis of MLB.com reported on X that Summerhill suffered the fracture after slugging a water cooler in the dugout.
‘‘I’m not going to speak to that,’’ he said.
Summerhill hit a home run on the first pitch in his return to action against Texas-Arlington, but a hamstring injury in his next game caused him to miss six starts. Nevertheless, he maintained his hitting stroke and was batting .411 until a 2-for-11 rut last weekend. He displayed his fearlessness by legging out a double with a headfirst slide in Arizona’s regular-season finale Saturday at Houston.
One longtime American League scout liked Summerhill’s array of skills but wondered about his recent spate of injuries. A local major-league scout said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Summerhill was drafted in the first round because of his bat-to-ball skills and strike-zone discipline and that many teams put a premium on college hitters.
‘‘College bats are hard to find,’’ the local scout said.
Summerhill spent his sophomore season at Arizona in center field before moving to right this season.
‘‘Wherever coach [Chip] Hale . . . puts me to play, I’ll go do it,’’ said Summerhill, who also said he would adjust if he is moved out of the leadoff spot.
That versatility can’t hurt his stock. Nor will the experience he gained by watching 2023 first-round pick Chase Davis as a freshman and by playing in the Cape Cod League last summer.
‘‘I would tell every college sophomore that gets the chance to play there to do it because it’s the hardest baseball you’re going to play,’’ Summerhill said, citing the less-than-perfect fields with no batter’s eye. ‘‘The best college players in the country [play in the league], and every competitor wants to be around the best. I think that’s when I realized, ‘Hey, I can take the next step this summer.’ ’’
Summerhill already has had a sneak peek of pro baseball. Brother Colin is a catcher at Inland Empire, the Angels’ Single-A affiliate.
‘‘I won’t be blindsided by it,’’ said Summerhill, who added that he talks with his brother once a day to share their experiences. ‘‘Obviously, I’m trying to stay very present with my team and hopefully in a huge postseason run coming up. But with my future, he’s been really important.’’
Summerhill wasn’t drafted out of high school, partly because no team was willing to match what it would have taken to buy him out of his commitment to Arizona. He credits the Wildcats’ coaching staff and team culture for helping him mature as a player and person.
He estimated he talks with Young coach Chris Cassidy about five times a year and treasured being around fellow alums who excelled, whether it was in basketball, chess or the classroom.
‘‘Being at Whitney Young really made me appreciate the diverse amount of talent and how people are good at whatever they’re doing,’’ Summerhill said.
‘‘Obviously, I’ve played well and put myself in a pretty good spot to hopefully have my name called pretty early [in the draft]. And with that, I understand there’s some pressure to that. But I think I embraced it the best way I could have [by] just continuing to play, continuing to play to win, because that’s the most important thing.’’