The story about MLB draft prospect, Michael Neustifter.
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00:00 I think we're all looking for stories of hope right now, and our senior writer Tom Verducci
00:09 has one in today's Daily Cover on Michael Neustifter of North Greenville University
00:15 in South Carolina.
00:17 Now Tom, he couldn't see for a while and was striking out a lot and was actually diagnosed
00:22 with something called visual snow syndrome, which has no cure, but it turns out it was
00:27 actually a concussion?
00:28 It's a crazy story.
00:31 Just imagine you're playing college baseball in North Greenville, as you said.
00:34 He had transferred from Oklahoma State, where he had been second team all Big 12.
00:40 Everything is going great and all of a sudden he begins to lose his vision.
00:44 He literally cannot see the baseball.
00:47 He was misdiagnosed originally with the vision problem called visual snow, and that can be
00:53 so bad sometimes you become legally blind.
00:56 Doctor told him there is no cure.
00:59 Just imagine that.
01:01 Well, his mother Angela didn't give up.
01:03 They saw so many different doctors.
01:05 She consulted with specialists as far away as Switzerland until finally just five miles
01:11 from their home in Texas, she found an eye specialist who said, "You've been misdiagnosed.
01:18 Your problem is you had a concussion."
01:21 Essentially, the neural pathways between the brain and the eyes had been damaged by the
01:26 concussion and with the help of eye exercises, it was a lot of work, he's not only healthy
01:31 again, he's playing baseball again and possibly could be drafted in a month or two.
01:37 He was really raking right before the pandemic obviously shut everything down.
01:42 He was slugging over 600.
01:44 There's no question.
01:45 Now the draft this year could be as short as only five rounds.
01:48 I don't know if he will be drafted.
01:50 He's eligible of course to sign as an undrafted free agent.
01:54 He's got big time power.
01:55 But as you said, this is a story all about hope, especially in these times.
02:00 I thought his mom put it perfectly when she said, "You know what?
02:04 Faith is putting your trust in something that you cannot see."
02:08 Well, that's never more true than a case like this, right?
02:11 Their faith eventually was rewarded.
02:13 It took a long time for them to realize that this was something that could be cured.
02:19 It's a great story and his lifetime dream has always been to play professional baseball.
02:24 He might just get that chance.
02:26 Yeah, I won't bet against him after reading your story.
02:29 Tom, appreciate the time as always.
02:31 Thank you.
02:32 [BLANK_AUDIO]