Dan Simonds didn’t need consecutive years to form an opinion on Mac Horvath. He didn’t even need a full season.
The relatively brief amount of time that Horvath spent at IMG Academy in Florida revealed traits that made him special. Intangibles that Simonds knew would separate Horvath from a talented group of players.
The total package prompted the Orioles to draft Horvath in the second round last week out of the University of North Carolina. Maybe a little higher than Simonds imagined before Horvath walked onto the Chapel Hill campus, but understandable based on the projections.
Simonds has spent 10 years at IMG Academy and oversees the entire operation as Baseball Director, including camps that run throughout the summer, winter and spring, and the professional training at the Bradenton facility. Horvath transferred from Century High School in Minnesota for his senior year.
In the fall of 2019. Before the world shut down early in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.