In a phone interview the day before the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding explained the club’s decision to make two trades to both move up in the draft and acquire every Philadelphia Union pick.
“While our primary focus is going to continue to be building for our first season, this is an opportunity to build for the future,” Berding said at the time. “We don’t have an academy and we don’t have Homegrowns. This gives us an opportunity to jumpstart that process.”
We know what happened next.
With the first pick, the Orange and Blue selected “That Kid From Santa Ana.”
Here’s the full rundown of the expansion side’s picks:
No. 1 Frankie Amaya
No. 13 Logan Gdula
No. 29 Tommy McCabe
No. 30 Jimmy Hague
No. 37 Ben Lundt
No. 49 Rashawn Dally
Berding’s hope to jumpstart FC Cincinnati’s future is actually transpiring in the present.
Of the six SuperDraft picks, five have at least made the 18 on a league matchday. And after Tommy McCabe made his MLS debut on Saturday in Minnesota, four of the picks have featured in league play.
“It’s very good,” Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet said about the club’s 2019 SuperDraft class. “I’m happy they stepped up. We gave them opportunities to play and they took them and did well.
“I’ve been happy with the performances of the rookies. It’s been good. They have to keep learning from training and trying to push themselves and understand what they’re trying to do.”
Amaya has spearheaded the youth movement and has 10 MLS appearances – and seven starts – through the club’s first 18 games in its new league.
The center midfielder has arguably been Cincinnati’s best player over the past month, and especially so since Damet became the interim head coach and increased the teenager’s role.
Dally initially went on loan to Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship, but was recalled in June and has started the last two matches for the Orange and Blue. Against Minnesota United FC, the Jamaican nearly scored in the first half, but his acrobatic yet powerful shot rattled off the cross bar.
McCabe’s been with Cincinnati since May, but had to wait for his team debut because his central midfield position has more depth than any other spot on the club’s roster.
As for Hague, he’s been in the 18 on multiple occasions, but is third behind Spencer Richey and Przemysław Tytoń. Gdula hasn’t featured yet, but he’s only been back with the club for a week after his loan was recalled from the Hartford Athletic (USL Championship).
In fact, the only SuperDraft pick that hasn’t joined the club this season is Lundt, who went on loan to Louisville City FC during the preseason. It’s worth noting he was Lou City’s choice starter for the two-time defending USL champions, but he’s currently recovering from surgery and hopes to play later this month.
This level of involvement in first-team plans, while not initially expected, has been a significantly beneficial for the first-year group.
The roles of the rookies could change in the coming weeks, however.
With the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup finishing Sunday, in addition to potential incoming transfer signings and players completing rehab, the rookies might slide back down the depth chart. There’s a chance they could go back out on loan, too.
But that’s not the point.
The point is how influential all six have already been to Cincinnati’s present at a time when expectations always focused on the future.
And especially Amaya’s ascendance into the starting lineup shows the importance of playing young players in order to provide opportunities that can serve as a foundation for their professional career.
