Former St. Thomas pitching ace Matt Schuld’s path to Major League Baseball has taken a slight detour.

After graduating in 2010, Schuld went undrafted but caught a break with the Gulf Coast Twins, a rookie-league affiliate for the Minnesota Twins.

In 2011, Schuld was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats, the Minnesota Twins’ Double-A minor league team and went 2-2 with an 8.12 ERA.

However, Schuld was cut by the organization in late March due to a nagging arm injury.

“I was disappointed that I didn’t make a club, but I get that it’s a business. It was a business decision,” Schuld said.

Schuld will not be taking time off from the “business” though and will continue playing baseball in St. Paul, the same city he brought a national championship to as a Tommie in 2009.

On May 6, Schuld will play his first game as a St. Paul Saint, and he said he is optimistic that his arm will be ready.

Schuld said he chose to join the Saints mainly because it was close to home. He said he’s excited to play, but it’s not the “end goal.”

“The idea is that it’s a stepping stone to get some good innings and try to put up some good numbers and get noticed by another team and get picked up,” Schuld said.

St. Thomas baseball coach Chris Olean thinks Schuld will get that opportunity, describing his former pitcher as the kind of player “that would only help an organization.”

“I have talked to a couple of people I know in professional baseball organizations and they’re watching,” Olean said. “I think if he does what he’s supposed to do there, he should get another look.”

Olean described Schuld as “the best pitcher in the history of St. Thomas baseball” and “probably one of the best pitchers in the history of the MIAC.”

“His competitiveness and his will to win are probably what separated him from everybody else,” Olean said.

Schuld left a mark on the Tommie baseball program; he compiled a 30-5 record that secured him as the MIAC’s wins leader and led the team to the 2009 NCAA Division III national championship.

However, Schuld humbly refused to recognize himself in the way Olean described.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” Schuld said. “I think I was fortunate to be on a lot of good teams.”

Schuld, however, gave a lot of credit to the St. Thomas baseball program in getting him to where he is today.

“I learned from Coach Olean how to prepare for a game,” Schuld said. “The quality of baseball here is very good so just being around a well-run program really prepared me for the professional ranks.”

Schuld said that he follows the Tommies closely and now that he’s back in St. Paul, he has been keeping a close eye on Olean and his former teammates.

“I think their pitching has been incredible, between Maher and Gapinski,” Schuld said. “Maher has been lights out… he’s going to do great things here in the future.”

Olean also emphasized how Schuld’s legacy is still alive this season.

“Everybody who played with him learned something from him,” Olean said.

Senior left-handed pitcher Bryce Gapinski, who pitched behind Schuld as a sophomore, was one of the players inspired by Schuld.

“I played catch with him, watched what he did about his game, watched what he did in between starts,” Gapinski said.

Like Olean, Gapinski credited Schuld’s determination to win at St. Thomas.

“The biggest thing was his mental toughness, that was one thing I really took away from him,” Gapinski said. “He went on the mound and kind of just said, ‘these guys aren’t going to score a run off me today.’”

Nick McAndrews can be reached at mcan1933@stthomas.edu.