Cornelius Johannes Van Eyk (born September 15, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organization. He is ranked 8th on

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's 2022 Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list.

Amateur career

Van Eyk attended and graduated from Steinbrenner High School in

Lutz, Florida Lutz is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, north of Tampa. The northern part of Lutz also makes up a portion of south Pasco County. The population was 23,707 according to the 2020 Cen ...

. In 2017, his senior year, he went 5–1 with a 0.73 ERA. He was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the 19th round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

, but elected to fulfill his commitment to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at Florida State University. In 2018, Van Eyk's freshman year at Florida State, he appeared in 19 games (making five starts) in which he went 7–0 with a 2.86 ERA, striking out 71 batters over innings, earning ACC All-Freshman honors. As a sophomore in 2019, he started 17 games, going 10–3 with a 3.80 ERA, compiling 120 strikeouts over innings, earning All-ACC Third Team honors. For the 2020 season, he was named the Seminoles' opening day starter. He appeared in four games before the college baseball season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Professional career

Van Eyk was selected by the

in the second round with the 42nd overall pick of the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Blue Jays on June 18 and received a $1.8 million bonus. Van Eyk made his professional debut and spent all of the 2021 season with the

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

of the

High-A West The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

, starting 19 games and pitching to a 4–6 record, a 5.83 ERA, and 100 strikeouts over innings. He underwent Tommy John surgery after the season, forcing him to miss all of 2022.

References

External links

Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Eyk, CJ 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Florida Baseball pitchers Florida State Seminoles baseball players Vancouver Canadians players Dunedin Blue Jays players