Major League Draft day on deck for Aliso Niguel baseball standout Cooper Flemming

Cooper Flemming bats for Aliso Niguel High School in a game this past season. (Photo courtesy Alia Jacome).

For many Major League Baseball draft hopefuls, the weeks leading up to the draft can be an overwhelming process. Attending the combine, conducting workouts and talking with organizations can put an enormous amount of pressure on athletes who may not be accustomed to the extra attention. 

However, for MLB draft prospect Cooper Flemming, it’s nothing he’s not already familiar with. 

Over the years, scouts and coaches have taken a heavy interest in the Aliso Niguel product. Every swing, every pitch and every move he made was recorded and looked at under a microscopic evaluation. 

Some may have fallen victim to the pressure of being in the limelight. Instead, Flemming embraced it and looked at it as a privilege rather than a burden. 

“This doesn’t happen to every kid in the world,” Flemming said. “Being able to play games and there’s MLB teams out there filming every single at-bat and there’s people at every game, that’s really cool. I’m not overlooking that and how blessed I am.”

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After a stellar spring at Aliso Niguel High School, the infielder vaulted up draft boards with the buzz around his name continuing to grow.

And now, after years of assessment, the day he’s worked toward for years lies ahead. Flemming, who has already secured a college commitment to Vanderbilt, will await his fate in the upcoming MLB draft. 

He will likely hear his name called on the first or second day of the event, which takes place from July 13 to July 14.

The 18-year-old has already played out his draft day moment “a million times” in his head. Yet, it still remains difficult for him to fathom that his dreams are set to become a reality. 

“I couldn’t have dreamed it going this far,” Flemming said. “Obviously, I wanted it to, but it’s real now with the draft, or I could go to Vanderbilt. I’ve worked my whole life to put myself in this spot, so it’s cool to watch it happen.”

From an early age, Flemming knew he wanted to be a professional baseball player. 

After all, baseball is woven into his family’s DNA. His grandfather, Frederick, signed with the Detroit Tigers and reached the AAA level in their minor league system. Meanwhile, his dad, enamored by the game, brought a young Cooper to Atlanta Braves games. Here, the seeds of a deep-rooted love for baseball were planted. 

“I played other sports growing up, but I pretty much only played baseball since I was nine or ten,” Flemming said. “Even before that, we’d go to a bunch of Braves games, and I just fell in love with it there. I have a baseball family.”

Growing up, Flemming traveled around the country competing with and against the nation’s best. Playing for the travel ball club BPA, he suited up next to other draft hopefuls such as Corona Centennial product Seth Hernandez. 

Flemming constantly faced premier talent, enjoying the challenge of playing among the best in his age group. 

“You’re playing against the same kind of players. Everyone’s so good it pushes everyone to play at a higher level,” Flemming said. “We learned how to compete with each other. We all made each other better … We all grew up together, which was really cool.”

Despite mostly focusing on travel ball throughout his teenage years, Flemming opted to suit up for Aliso Niguel High School in his senior year, where he helped lead the Wolverines to the CIF Division 1 playoffs. 

After playing with the same group of players for most of his career, this past spring gave him a chance to gain a perspective on the game. 

“Every kid on the BPA team is going to a Division I school,” Flemming said. “We (Aliso Niguel) had a few D1 and D2 commits, but a lot of the team was just guys who just love playing baseball. Learning how to play with a different group was really cool … [playing with] some of the kids who know they’re not going to play in college and just like going out and playing with their buddies in high school, that experience of getting to play and win with them was awesome.”

In just one season, Flemming reached feats untouchable to most high school players. At the plate, he mashed for a .407 batting average, 27 RBI and six home runs. 

Additionally, he maintained an impressive 0.69 ERA and racked up 66 strikeouts en route to a 7-1 record on the mound. 

He credits a substantial amount of his development to the time he spent in the weight room. Since his junior year, he’s worked with BPA trainer Zeke Prado to improve his speed and agility, cutting his 60-yard dash time from 7.2 seconds when he first started training with Prado down to a 6.5-second time he ran earlier this year. 

“Knocking off that much time has helped everything,” Flemming said. “I’ve gotten a lot stronger. And all that stuff compounds on each other and helps every aspect of the game: speed, power, arm strength. All the time I’ve spent with him (Zeke) has really changed who I am.”

But he also cites his parents as the driving factors behind his success. To Flemming, his success is a product of the sacrifices his family has made over the years. 

Now, he believes he can pay them back by signing a Major League contract or attending Vanderbilt next fall. 

“My parents don’t want to be on the road all summer driving me and flying me tournaments … but they do it because they love and care about me,” Flemming said. “Me going out and doing the best I can and working hard is always how I thought I’d repay them. The draft is huge honor for me and my family.”