Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Oswego East’s Ashton Izzi promoted to Triple-A, reflects on pro journey: ‘The next step is the biggest one’

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Oswego East’s Ashton Izzi promoted to Triple-A, reflects on pro journey: ‘The next step is the biggest one’ · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Oswego East, Ashton Izzy promoted to tripa A reflects on
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  Speaker 1: pro journey. The next step is the biggest one. Written
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  Speaker 1: by Joshua Welge. This article is being read by an
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  Speaker 1: automated voice brought to you by Everlett. To hear Ashton
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  Speaker 1: Izzy tell it. A day in the life of a
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  Speaker 1: minor league pitcher is not much different than that of
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  Speaker 1: a twenty two year old newlywed in another walk of
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  Speaker 1: life until the phone rings. Such was the case on
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  Speaker 1: July twenty fourth, twenty twenty five, when the Oswego East
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  Speaker 1: graduate found out he had been traded from the Seattle
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  Speaker 1: Mariners organization to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a package for
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  Speaker 1: josh Naylor. It was crazy, Izzy said. One day you're
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  Speaker 1: with the Mariners, and the next day you're reporting to
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  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks high a team. Wasn't much time to process it.
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  Speaker 1: Pack your bags had to start three four days later.
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  Speaker 1: It was a scary transition, knowing every to kind of
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  Speaker 1: being the new guy. It's like the draft, but they
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  Speaker 1: welcome you with open arms. Izzy received a similar moving
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  Speaker 1: day called this July seventeenth, but this one meant he
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  Speaker 1: was moving on up. Now ranked the eleventh highest prospect
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  Speaker 1: in the Diamondbacks organization by MLB dot Com Kamma. Izzy
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  Speaker 1: was promoted to Arizona's Triple A affiliate, the Reno Aces.
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  Speaker 1: He's one more phone call to the Biggs. Absolutely, it's
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  Speaker 1: a huge accomplishment to make it here, Izzy said, I
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  Speaker 1: know there is a lot of faith in me in
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  Speaker 1: this organization. It's motivation to keep working hard. The next
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  Speaker 1: step is the biggest one and the one that matters most.
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  Speaker 1: That is the biggest goal to get there and stay there.
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  Speaker 1: Izzy was first drafted by the Mariners in the fourth
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  Speaker 1: round of the twenty twenty two MLB Draft with the
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  Speaker 1: one hundred twenty sixth overall pick. He opted to forego
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  Speaker 1: his commitment to Wichita State and sign with Seattle. He
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  Speaker 1: was the second Oswego East product drafted that year. Noah
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  Speaker 1: Schultz was selected by the White Socks in the first round.
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  Speaker 1: Schultz made his MLB debut in April of this year,
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  Speaker 1: a game Izzy watched on TV from his double A field.
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  Speaker 1: I watched like two or three innings while they were
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  Speaker 1: on and watched the recap of what I missed. Izzy said,
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  Speaker 1: it was super awesome to watch a couple of his outings,
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  Speaker 1: especially his debut to see all the friends there, super
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  Speaker 1: proud of him, how far he's come. Izzy, who has
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  Speaker 1: made four starts at Triple A since his promotion, noted
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  Speaker 1: the adjustment the ball is different from Double A and
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  Speaker 1: lower affiliates to Triple A and the bigs. It's wouned
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  Speaker 1: a little tighter, with less thick leather. It takes a
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  Speaker 1: while to get used to the gripping a little slicker,
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  Speaker 1: not as high seams. It was a little hard to
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  Speaker 1: start the first couple weeks. I hadn't thrown the big
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  Speaker 1: league baseball, and it took a week to acclimate. It
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  Speaker 1: feels natural now, Izzy said. The hitters are obviously a
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  Speaker 1: little better, a little more patient. That is the learning curve.
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  Speaker 1: Izzy made just nine Arizona Complex League starts in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty three after being drafted, but started to emerge as
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  Speaker 1: a prospect the next year. He posted a two point
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  Speaker 1: eight five ERA with ninety five strikeouts in one hundred
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  Speaker 1: ten and two thirds innings with single a modesto. Izzy
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  Speaker 1: was slowed by an oblique injury to start twenty twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: but was building his way back at High Everett when
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  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks traded for him in a deadline deal. This season,
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  Speaker 1: he is three five with a five point zero seven
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  Speaker 1: ERA and twenty one starts across Double A and Triple A.
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  Speaker 1: He's added a cutter, a sweeper, and a four seam
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  Speaker 1: fastball to the sinker, slider and change up he threw
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  Speaker 1: in high school. A little learning curve in Double A
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  Speaker 1: throwing strikes and not giving up free bases. Izzy said,
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  Speaker 1: kind of doing the same at Triple A with limiting walks,
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  Speaker 1: being able to limit damage, control runners and not let
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  Speaker 1: the game speed up. It's a learning curve at both levels.
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  Speaker 1: I've talked to people who have experienced it. My pitching
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  Speaker 1: coach at each level is a huge help. Izzy feels
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  Speaker 1: blessed to have his wife of less than a year
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  Speaker 1: out there with him. A typical day is breakfast together,
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  Speaker 1: hanging out with their dog, watching a TV show in
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  Speaker 1: the morning, maybe getting in a round of golf on
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  Speaker 1: an off day. She honestly gets the worst of it,
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  Speaker 1: Izzy said. She was out there for the trade in
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  Speaker 1: the car with me. When I got the call. It
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  Speaker 1: was get ready and go. Same when I was called
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  Speaker 1: up to Triple A. Pitched on a Sunday, called up
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  Speaker 1: after the game expected to be out there in Reno
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  Speaker 1: a lot of ups and downs. She gets to see
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  Speaker 1: the good outings and the bad get traded, move up
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  Speaker 1: a level, she leaves all her friends behind. She is amazing.
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  Speaker 1: Has professional life in the miners been what Izzy expected
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  Speaker 1: to be? Honest, I didn't know what it would be like,
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  Speaker 1: he said. I would say a lot more rough than
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  Speaker 1: you would assume, not knowing what college is like. Easy
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  Speaker 1: to adapt with a lot of resources and good people
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  Speaker 1: and friends to help you out. It's a lot less
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  Speaker 1: action packed than you would assume. Five days a week,
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  Speaker 1: I'm watching a lot of downtime, but a lot of
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  Speaker 1: work to prepare for one start