Joe Nahas has finally landed on his feet – in a good way!

Not that the former Marian baseball star has had problems, but now he hopes he has found a home for his outstanding baseball skills as a hard-throwing right handed pitcher.

For the past week or so, it had been rumored that Nahas was on the verge of signing a professional baseball contract after playing most of this summer in one of the best collegiate baseball leagues, the famed Cape Cod League.

Late Friday, Nahas signed his name to play for the Chicago Cubs’ organization, ending much speculation on whether he was going to return for his senior year at Georgia Southern. And in the process, signed one of the largest free agent contracts for a nonprofessional of $135,000.

“It’s been my dream for a long, long time,” said the newly signed Cub. “Tell you the truth, I thought I was going to get drafted in the (MLB) draft in June. At least the (scouts) kept telling me they’re going to draft me.”

When that didn’t come to pass, Nahas headed north to the Massachusetts area where he started to make an impression from Day 1. Of course, that wasn’t a surprise to one of his former coaches, Marian mentor Tony Radocha.

“He is one of the most competitive kids that we’ve had here at Marian,” said Radocha Sunday morning. “When he came here (from North Schuylkill) it was the perfect time for him; the perfect storm. He is such a well-conditioned athlete,

“I’ve always knew that he was in great condition and an injury wasn’t going to slow him down.”

Radocha said Nahas fit right into the system. “I’m not surprised that he’s going to the next level. When he came to us, he stepped right in and was a success, and I’ve been watching him throughout the Cape League all summer, and his numbers kept getting better and better.”

Now, Nahas is settling in for a week of evaluation at the Cubs’ training facility in Mesa, Arizona, and he will get indoctrinated into the long road to the big league club.

“They thoroughly evaluate you with the computers and how you release the ball,” he explained Sunday, his off-day. “It’s a science today. They’ve got all these imaging machines, they take film and keep looking to make sure that everything is being done correctly.”

Nahas is ticketed to join the Eugene Emeralds (Org.) for the short-season team, and could end up playing low A ball if all things fall into place.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me,” said the Frackville native. “I never gave up my dream (of playing professionally). I was contacted by a bunch of major league (teams) and they called saying I was going to get drafted in the last (two) days of the draft.”

When that never happened, he packed his bags and headed to the Cape, and that’s when things started to come to the fore for the flame-throwing pitcher who was clocked as high 97 mph and consistently threw in the low 90s. The 6-1, 175-pound Nahas was impressive throwing for the Cotuit Kettleers, chalking up 27 strikeouts in 18 innings, fueling his stock faster than the Dow Jones has been rising this past week.

Nahas hit the jackpot money-wise signing for the dollar amount, which is typically more in line for a 10th round draft choice. However, being a free agent signee usually doesn’t command that type of dollar. The big break for Nahas came when a player drafted in the 10th round decided to forego the signing and it left extra money for the Cubs as well as several other teams to go after the former Marian standout.

“The Cubs (scouting director) told me they gave me every dollar they had to offer,” continued Nahas.

There were several other major league teams chasing Nahas, led by the Diamondbacks, who offered $125,000. Also in the picture were the Marlins and the Angels.

Traveling wasn’t something new to Nahas, as he’s been doing that since his high school days when he first played for two seasons at North Schuylkill before transferring to the Colts’ program for his final two years.

After graduation, Nahas was headed to play at Scranton University, but a twist of fate landed him in Baltimore where an opening spot for a pitcher came about at the University Maryland-Baltimore County, and he headed to the Mason Dixon Line.

However, Nahas wasn’t quite comfortable, and the following year, his sophomore season, he took his wares to Chesapeake College in Maryland. There he had outstanding numbers earning first team honors All-American JUCO Conference.

Nahas enrolled in the fall of 2018 at Bloomsburg University for a semester but never did play for the Huskies; instead, another chance opening came about, this one in Georgia Southern where he went 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA, 142 strikeouts over 73.2 innings of work.

“To be honest, I finally came into my own when I went to the Cape,” allowed Nahas. “My control was much, much better; I had more command with my breaking pitch too. What the Cubs offered was a chance to be a starter (and) that’s all I wanted.”

And did the head Cub at the top call him yet?

“No, I haven’t heard from Joe Maddon,” he said about the big league manager and Hazleton native with a chuckle. “I hope he does call me soon, that mean’s I may be headed to (Chicago) to play for the big club.”

For the 21-year-old, that would certainly be grand and enable Joe Nahas to live out his dream of being a Big League baseball player.