Keaton Anthony gets his shot at affiliated professional baseball

CEDAR RAPIDS — Despite everything he has gone through the last year or so, Keaton Anthony can take solace in one thing.

He’s getting a chance to play affiliated professional baseball. It’s up to him how things proceed from here.

And that’s all he ever wanted.

“You’ve got to get your foot in the door,” Anthony said. “That’s what they always say.”

The former University of Iowa player is a first baseman for the low-Class A Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. This is his first full season in the minor leagues after signing with the Philadelphia Phillies last summer as a non-drafted free agent.

That he was never selected in the 20-round 2023 Major League Baseball Draft was a story in and of itself. Anthony was ensnared in a criminal investigation into gambling by athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and missed essentially the final quarter of the season.

As far as MLB clubs were concerned, that apparently superseded the numbers he put up in two years at Iowa. Anthony was Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022, returning to school despite being draft eligible and getting some nibbles from teams.

He was the Hawkeyes’ best hitter last season when everything came to an abrupt end.

“Honestly, when I got into trouble, I was hitting the best I’d hit in both years I’d been there. I was so excited to see what was going to happen,” Anthony said. “Then it was just ‘Boom. Done.’ I was devastated, couldn’t eat for a week or two. I was sad because I felt like I let my brothers down. I didn’t know what was going to happen to my baseball career.

“You feel like a horrible guy. It was a very rough time in my life. I’m glad it’s over for the most part ... I do feel better, but I just wish I could go back and change it to where it never happened. Obviously, you can’t.”

Anthony is among 26 Iowa and Iowa State athletes whose lawyers filed a lawsuit in late April against the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for allegedly violating their rights by illegally using geofencing software in its probe. The group is seeking an unspecified amount of money for smearing their reputations.

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There is no doubt in Anthony’s mind that the investigation cost him being an MLB draft pick, perhaps a high one.

“I had guys call me during the draft and tell me ‘We’d love to take you, but this is kind of a quote ‘Pete Rose situation. It’s hard to get this past our front office,’” Anthony said. “So I 1,000 percent think it did prevent me from getting drafted.

“I don’t know how much money I lost or where I would have gone, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if I went in the top five rounds ... It just felt like no one wanted their name associated with me in the draft.”

So this has become a huge motivator for Anthony to prove everyone they missed out. He was signed as an outfielder but immediately moved to first base, which has been a transition.

The 22-year-old Georgia native hit .302 in 23 combined games between Clearwater and the Rookie-level Florida Complex League after signing last summer. He’s off to a .280 start in 24 games for Clearwater this season.

The 20 walks to 16 strikeouts is a very good ratio. Anthony has five doubles and no home runs thus far.

He knows an increase in extra-base hits is imperative, especially being a first baseman.

“I feel like at the beginning of the season and up until (this week), I have kind of been tentative. I haven’t really been aggressive enough, which was not like me at all last year and the year before,” Anthony said. “I was always a guy who wanted to go out there and hit.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to hit. I’m just not swinging at pitches I should be hammering. So I’m kind of getting behind in counts, then choking up and trying not to strike out, to put the ball in play. It’s hard for me to drive the ball when I’ve got two strikes. When I’m just trying to put the ball in play.”

Anthony said he’d like to hit .300 this season, have more walks than strikeouts, play well defensively and just stay healthy.

“I kind of just want to get my feet wet, this being my first full year,” he said.

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com