Sycamore grad, Oklahoma recruit Ethan Storm eyeing potential MLB draft selection

In the fall of 2023, Ethan Storm was poised to start his sophomore season at Rock Valley College with a commitment to Central Michigan in place.

Then came a torn UCL and Tommy John surgery that sidelined the Sycamore graduate for a year but also reshaped him on and off the field.

“Being out of the game for so long, it really showed me how much I missed playing,” said Storm, the Daily Chronicle 2022 Baseball Player of the Year. “I think that really matured me as a baseball player and as a person.”

Now, Storm has changed his commitment to Oklahoma, where he’s headed in the fall. That is, if he’s not taken in the MLB Draft next week.

“The opportunity is there,” Storm said. “There’s a chance it could happen but there’s still a chance it couldn’t happen. I have a good amount of interest from a variety of teams and that’s what I’ve been working towards coming back from injury.”

Storm said pursuing the opportunity to be selected in the MLB Draft, which is held Sunday and Monday, is a big reason he is playing in the MLB Draft League this summer.

The Draft League started in 2021 when MLB reorganized its minor league system. The league’s website boasts 185 draft picks since its inception and more than 90 undrafted free agents that have signed with Major League clubs.

Storm is pitching for State College (Pennsylvania) and has appeared in 11 games. He‘s struck out 13 and walked five with a 7.36 ERA, with five holds.

“You’re playing against some of the best players in the country, so you’re really getting a step up,” said Storm, who said his fastball is up to 96 MPH. “Guys are here all for the same reason, hearing their name called in another week. It’s a really fun experience being with a lot of guys in the same boat who have the same mindset and you’re able to pick each other’s brains and feel out what got them to this point, what they do different than some other guys. This is as close as it gets to playing pro ball without playing pro ball.”

Storm said it’s tough to gauge exactly the level of interest MLB teams have in him. He said he worked out with the Cubs in May and said he’s also had interest from the White Sox, Dodgers, Braves and others.

He said if he’s selected and the offer is right, he’ll pursue his pro career. But he also added he’s perfectly content going to Oklahoma.

“If that number is in a good spot for me, I would take that opportunity to start my pro career,” Storm said. “It’s something I don’t want to sell myself short on, but if the right opportunity comes from a pro organization I’ll take it.”

Storm said, regardless of how the draft turns out, he’s excited to play for the Sooners. He said he loved the area and it fit his personality well.

He also spoke highly of coach Skip Johnson, head coach in Norman since 2017 and pitching coach at Texas for a decade before that.

“Oklahoma was one of the first bigger schools that reached out to me in the fall,” Storm said. “It kind of just started off on a weekly basis of sending them videos and how I was progressing from the surgery and how my bullpens were looking. From August to March it was weekly offers until they actually pulled the trigger and gave me the offer.”

Storm tore his UCL in 2023 just before the start of fall activities at Rock Valley. He started throwing bullpen sessions about a year later and was back to live hitters in the winter of 2025.

When the season started for the Golden Eagles, he was on a strict pitch count. He finished the season 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA, starting seven games but pitching just 21 innings, striking out 40 and walking 15.

He said the rehab process is a bumpy road. Sometimes there are bad days, sometimes there are good ones. Some days he’d want to do more than his rehab plan called for, some days less.

“There are going to be days where you’re struggling and not feeling so good,” Storm said. “Then there are days that are really good. It’s one of those finicky processes. It was tough because you have to follow a program for a long time. Days you feel like you can throw farther, no, the program says you can only throw 60 feet. So you gotta stay at 60 feet.”

He said that process has led him to where he is now, sitting with an offer to a team that reached the finals of the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional as well as a chance to be a Major League Baseball player in a few days.

Storm said he’s keeping the prospect of being drafted in perspective.

“At the end of the day there are 500-something picks and they’re out scouting 1,000 kids,” Storm said. “You’re up to bat with 1,000 other guys hoping for the same opportunity. It’s just whether they take a chance on you and give you that opportunity.”