Latest / The Driven Athlete / The Not-So-Glorious Road To The Big Leagues with Xavier Edwards | Ep 118

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The Not-So-Glorious Road To The Big Leagues with Xavier Edwards | Ep 118 · The Driven Athlete

0:00
SPEAKER_01: If you're a driven, active person who wants to reach and pursue a high quality life, wisdom, and ambition, then guess what?
0:06
SPEAKER_01: This podcast is for you.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: This is the Driven Athlete Podcast.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: Your man, Dr.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: Kyle, back with the Driven Athlete Podcast.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: We got uh special guest Xavier Edwards with us, um, major league baseball player with the Florida Marlins.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for coming in, man.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: I know you're a busy dude.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: Spring training just starting up.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for coming in.
0:27
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thanks for having me for sure.
0:29
SPEAKER_03: Excited to be here.
0:30
SPEAKER_01: So um today was the first day of spring.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah?
0:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: How'd it how'd it go?
0:34
SPEAKER_03: First, yeah, first official day for position players.
0:37
SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, it was fun.
0:38
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, kind of getting all the boys back together, you know, getting uh all the staff there, you know, some new faces, a lot of familiar faces.
0:44
SPEAKER_03: So great to kind of get the team going uh on day one and you know, pushing towards a common goal.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
0:50
SPEAKER_03: So uh a lot of guys you haven't seen in a while, I would imagine.
0:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, most of my teammates I didn't see.
0:54
SPEAKER_03: I guess we had fanfest uh about a week and a half ago.
0:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh so I got to see a good portion of them that at FanFest at our stadium in Miami.
1:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah, prior to that, no, I hadn't seen them since the end of September when we finished the season.
1:08
SPEAKER_03: What about new guys?
1:09
SPEAKER_03: A lot of new guys?
1:10
SPEAKER_03: Uh a few, not really a lot.
1:12
SPEAKER_03: Uh just a few, probably a handful, maybe five or six um real new guys.
1:18
SPEAKER_03: Uh guys on our big league team, even less than that, probably two, two or three new guys.
1:23
SPEAKER_03: So big league invite only two or three new guys.
1:26
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, for our big league.
1:28
SPEAKER_03: For our big league team, yeah.
1:29
SPEAKER_03: For the amount of guys we have, probably two or three that will have new additions to our team.
1:34
SPEAKER_03: Um tractions.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Is that pretty standard, like new spring training, or is it like sometimes it's like got you know 20 new dudes?
1:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's pretty standard.
1:42
SPEAKER_03: I would say somewhere around five to eight is probably like more of the standard, you know, they have a lot of pitchers.
1:49
SPEAKER_03: Um, but it's so it's so dicey with spring training because you have some non-roster guys, um, some guys who like will most likely go to triple A after like throughout the course of spring where they kind of make like decisions.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: Um, so like at least you know 26 or 30 of us is gonna be our team.
2:06
SPEAKER_03: And then after that, you know, some other guys were gonna get set down to triple A.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: Uh some guys you know who'll probably be called up to the big leagues at some point throughout the year.
2:14
SPEAKER_03: So there's a lot of moving parts, but um, yeah, it's important to know everyone's name and face because at some point or another you could see them, or if not this year, then the next.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Totally.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: Is that pretty good?
2:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm sure like it's understood there's moving pieces that happen, and uh, as new guys come in the team, people leave and stuff, it's an easier like guys are used to the transitions and stuff.
2:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it happens so frequently.
2:36
SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm a young guy, I'm 26 and I've been traded twice already.
2:40
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, this is my third team.
2:41
SPEAKER_03: So it happens um, you know, earlier than you expect for a lot of players.
2:45
SPEAKER_03: So I would say um, you know, the longer you're around, the more comfortable you get with, you know, moving around, you know, Arizona Spring Training, Ford Spring Training, you know, new year, new team, you know, playing on the same team, repeating a year and having completely different players, different teammates in the next year.
3:01
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's kind of a revolving door.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would imagine on your end too, like as a player, it's like cool, but it doesn't really affect what I need to do.
3:10
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
3:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, you're focused on uh what you need to do, you know, what your what your team needs to do.
3:15
SPEAKER_03: If like us at the bigger level, that's I would say a main focus, which I can appreciate because at the minor league level, sometimes it can get uh a bit selfish.
3:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, because you know you're just trying to get your your way to the major league.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: Right, you're trying to carve your own way.
3:28
SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's it's kind of nice to be to kind of take a step back and kind of have baseball be like how it was when I was an amateur, and you're just trying to, you know, win games, and obviously you want to perform well as well.
3:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, but there's a little bit more emphasis on the team-oriented stuff, and that's uh important for uh for us as players to kind of get back to that because the Mile Leeds can be such a selfish, uh self-focused place.
3:52
SPEAKER_03: Grueling.
3:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because you're trying to make like the season's just as long, but you're trying to make it yourself the whole time.
3:58
SPEAKER_03: Like wins and losses don't matter as much.
4:00
SPEAKER_03: It's really just like how you perform, what your stats look like.
4:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, so that's where that's where we're at.
4:05
SPEAKER_03: And traveling is not glorious.
4:07
SPEAKER_03: No, worse hotels, worse accommodations for travel, for flights.
4:14
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, you name it a couple of things.
4:15
SPEAKER_03: You fly in minor leagues?
4:16
SPEAKER_03: Some in triple A you do because the league is more spread out.
4:19
SPEAKER_03: So that's really the level that you fly.
4:22
SPEAKER_03: But same, like the the travel is obviously not as intense.
4:25
SPEAKER_03: The schedule's a little bit different.
4:27
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, you fly sometimes and it's less than ideal, you know.
4:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, piling on a southwest flight and you and all your teammates are taking off the back of the plane.
4:36
SPEAKER_03: It's a little different than yeah flying first class or flying a charter flying the big leagues.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: That's a I mean, you know, once you get there, it's like the rite of passage has been fulfilled.
4:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: You've definitely done your time uh one way or another, pretty much across the board in some kind of grueling situation in the minor leagues.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Well, um, let's go through your story.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: All right.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: Where are you from?
4:58
SPEAKER_01: Where'd you when did you start playing baseball?
5:00
SPEAKER_01: And then coming up to your professional career.
5:03
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so born in New York, Long Island, uh, moved to South Florida when I was five.
5:08
SPEAKER_03: I have an older sister um who played college tennis.
5:11
SPEAKER_03: So at the time, she's six and a half years older.
5:13
SPEAKER_03: So when I was five, she was 11, turning 12.
5:15
SPEAKER_03: Um, she was already playing tennis, so my parents knew that she needed to be in a warm climate to play tennis year-round and not be stuck indoors.
5:22
SPEAKER_03: And then they knew somewhere along the way, either I was gonna play tennis or baseball because those are the two sports I loved growing up.
5:27
SPEAKER_03: Um, did you always love those?
5:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I played a ton of tennis.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: My parents actually said I was better at tennis than baseball when I was younger.
5:33
SPEAKER_03: Oh, really?
5:34
SPEAKER_03: I just played so much tennis because my sister.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, what ages were you at this point?
5:38
SPEAKER_01: We're like, man, he's good.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Like he's got some good tennis and baseball skills.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: You're playing a lot, probably like eight, eight to nine.
5:44
SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
5:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, somewhere around there.
5:46
SPEAKER_03: Because at that point, they were like, Okay, you probably need to make a decision.
5:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like, are we gonna go the tennis route like we did with your sister, or are we gonna go the baseball route?
5:52
SPEAKER_03: And you know, that's we have to pivot and do something completely different.
5:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's where it was really was decided for me.
5:58
SPEAKER_03: Pretty early on, I picked baseball because I liked the team aspect of it, and I didn't want to just like be by myself.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Individual tennis, super individual.
6:05
SPEAKER_03: It's so much fun to play and um just but such a different career path.
6:10
SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, it's bluebell.
6:11
SPEAKER_03: We moved to South Florida when I was five.
6:13
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, started playing baseball really early on once we got here to South Florida.
6:18
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then kind of took off from there.
6:19
SPEAKER_03: High school went to Trinity Christian in Lake Worth and then transferred my junior year to North Broad Prep.
6:25
SPEAKER_03: Uh my last two years there, graduated in 2018, got drafted in the first round on North Broad Prep.
6:31
SPEAKER_03: Um first round draft pick.
6:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, first round draft pick by the San Diego Padres.
6:35
SPEAKER_03: Which pick?
6:36
SPEAKER_03: 38th overall, so comp compensation comp A.
6:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, that's awesome.
6:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it was there drafted early by the Padres, spent a year and a half with them, traded in the 2019 offseason to Tampa Bay, spent COVID with Tampa to 2022.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: And what levels of minor leagues at that point?
6:55
SPEAKER_03: So San Diego rookie ball, short season, low A, high A, and then COVID hit 2020.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: Rookie ball, short season A, long season A, high A.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and then double A.
7:08
SPEAKER_03: And then triple A.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: And then triple A.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: So there's six levels.
7:11
SPEAKER_03: Six levels.
7:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they've taken out, they've since taken out short season.
7:14
SPEAKER_03: So short season is no longer a level.
7:16
SPEAKER_03: So they've gotten rid of that.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: They've gotten rid of some minor league teams in the process.
7:19
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I spent yeah, those early, all my A ball with the Padres, and then I got traded right after that to Tampa.
7:26
SPEAKER_03: COVID hit, no baseball.
7:27
SPEAKER_03: You know, we played in Port Charlotte, but no nothing that counted, you know, no stats for what we did in 2020.
7:33
SPEAKER_03: And then 2021, I went to double A uh with the Rays.
7:37
SPEAKER_03: 22 I went to triple A with the Rays.
7:39
SPEAKER_03: And where are those located?
7:40
SPEAKER_03: Uh Montgomery, Alabama, uh for double A with the Rays, and then Durham for Triple A.
7:46
SPEAKER_03: Durham, North Carolina.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: The Durham Bowls, right?
7:48
SPEAKER_03: I was Durham Bowl and a Montgomery Biscuit.
7:50
SPEAKER_03: A Montgomery Biscuit.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
7:52
SPEAKER_03: The Biscuits.
7:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
7:54
SPEAKER_03: Good hat, good nickname.
7:56
SPEAKER_03: And then um traded again to Miami at the 2022 offseason.
8:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then yeah, now I've been with the Marlins for three years.
8:04
SPEAKER_03: I guess it's coming up on my fourth technically.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: This will be your fourth season with the Marlins.
8:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so triple A, Jacksonville, uh big league debut 2023 with the Marlins, and then 2024 I was with the big league team most of the year, uh, after I got over my injury, and then last year I was with the team the whole year.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: So you um growing up, I'm sure you played travel ball before high school.
8:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, while while I was in high school before, yeah, a ton of travel ball.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, what did you play before high school came around?
8:35
SPEAKER_01: What were you playing?
8:37
SPEAKER_01: Like locally, yeah.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh like rec ball or just only travel?
8:40
SPEAKER_03: No, I played well, yeah.
8:42
SPEAKER_03: You know, you play I played rec until probably like I want to say uh same thing, like eight.
8:47
SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, probably eight.
8:48
SPEAKER_03: And then I was on the Wellington Warriors, now the Wellington Colts.
8:53
SPEAKER_03: Um the Wellington Colts.
8:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so that's what they're called now.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: But we played out of Olympia, that park in Wellington, and my dad coached and one of my friends' dads, and we were the Wellington Warriors for about a year or two, from like eight to ten, and then we went to Royal Palm and were the Piranhas for a year.
9:08
SPEAKER_03: The Royal Palm Piranhas, yeah, just yeah, just basically out of Royal Palm.
9:12
SPEAKER_03: And then I think we were at Lantana, we were the Sugar Canes for a year, MVP.
9:18
SPEAKER_03: So we bounced around, but um, and then high school I played for the Evo Showed Canes.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: I played for my dad's team, Palm Beach Select for like two, two my first two summers, and then my last two summers I played for Evil Show.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because you know Jeremy Plexico, yeah, of course, which Plex.
9:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, prospect select, yeah, yeah.
9:33
SPEAKER_03: And a lot of showcases with him in my amateur years, and now my pro years.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: I see him all the time.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: Cool, man.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: What do you like?
9:40
SPEAKER_01: Um your dad was maybe you've mentioned before your like your dad was one of your main coaches.
9:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, still is.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: Hitting, fielding, yeah.
9:49
SPEAKER_03: Exclusively my main coach up until pro baseball, really.
9:53
SPEAKER_03: Uh a little bit of high school.
9:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, he kind of loosened the reins a bit, and I um went and played for a different travel team because he thought it'd be important for me to play uh, you know, with another coach because my dad's not gonna be able to be my primary coach my whole career.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I get some new experience.
10:07
SPEAKER_03: Right.
10:07
SPEAKER_03: So he thought it'd be important.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: So um that was my my sophomore year of travel ball.
10:11
SPEAKER_03: I played with Ivo Shitkaynes out of Virginia.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: Um and yeah, I had some different coaches, and uh, but yeah, still now to this day, you know, in the offseason I hit with my dad and you know, do infield with him and all that stuff.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: So cool.
10:23
SPEAKER_03: And your dad played, yeah, he was drafted fourth round by the Dodgers in I want to say 84.
10:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 84.
10:34
SPEAKER_03: He drafted outfielder uh from Syracuse, New York, very cold, not a whole lot of baseball going on in Syracuse.
10:42
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but he was one of the players from Syracuse that um that you know got drafted, yeah, drafted and made it made out of Syracuse.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: And uh what was his pathway?
10:51
SPEAKER_03: Uh he actually was drafted by the Dodgers.
10:55
SPEAKER_03: Funny story.
10:55
SPEAKER_03: My dad's a big like hoops player, he loves basketball.
10:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh he was a four-star, four sport player in high school baseball, basketball, football, and track.
11:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, but his passion was like basketball.
11:06
SPEAKER_03: He wanted to go NBA.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: How tall is he?
11:08
SPEAKER_03: Six'1.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: But like how tall are you?
11:11
SPEAKER_03: Five nine.
11:12
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: Dad didn't get all of his height somewhere between him and my mom.
11:17
SPEAKER_03: Um how tall is your mom?
11:18
SPEAKER_03: Five five.
11:20
SPEAKER_03: All right.
11:20
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, literally, I'm sick.
11:22
SPEAKER_03: I'm smack dab in the middle.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: Uh but he could hoop.
11:24
SPEAKER_03: He's like in his high school hall of fame.
11:26
SPEAKER_03: He's he's got all these stories, and all of his friends got the stories of him lighting people up and high school hoops.
11:32
SPEAKER_03: So that's what he wanted to do.
11:33
SPEAKER_03: So where did he play high school?
11:34
SPEAKER_03: Him, Liverpool high school.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: Like when in New York, I guess.
11:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Syracuse.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh, in Syracuse, New York.
11:39
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
11:39
SPEAKER_03: And then he went to Syracuse calling.
11:40
SPEAKER_03: No, he didn't go to Syracuse.
11:41
SPEAKER_03: He went to a school called Alfred State.
11:43
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
11:43
SPEAKER_03: Um, like his junior college up up in upstate New York, and they didn't even have a baseball team.
11:48
SPEAKER_03: He was there for basketball.
11:49
SPEAKER_03: And I guess scouts were calling, saying that, oh, they wanted him to do like a little workout, but the basketball coach wasn't relaying the messages to him because obviously he didn't want him off the basketball.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: Selfish, yeah.
11:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
11:59
SPEAKER_03: So his mom, my my grandma made up a story for him to come back home, playing, like, oh, there's something going on, the family, you got to come back.
12:06
SPEAKER_03: So he came back, and then my grandma told him that he had a workout that he needed to do.
12:11
SPEAKER_03: So he did the workout.
12:13
SPEAKER_03: Um, after like months of pretty much not playing baseball, he'd just been training basketball.
12:17
SPEAKER_03: Um, did the workout, and I guess they liked what they saw, and they picked him in the fourth round.
12:21
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: So he didn't even play college baseball.
12:25
SPEAKER_03: He was at a junior college for basketball and ended up getting drafted for baseball.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
12:29
SPEAKER_03: And then played six seasons.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, played six seasons, you know, met my mom uh prior or at the beginning of that.
12:37
SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
12:39
SPEAKER_03: Did your mom play sports?
12:40
SPEAKER_03: Uh she played volleyball a bit in high school, and I think she coached.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: She coached along the way.
12:46
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: So you uh um so yeah, you I mean sports family.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sister played tennis, crushing tennis, you played tennis, baseball was more of your passion.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: Draft uh played travel ball growing up in South Florida with multiple teams, um, and then drafted out of high school 2018, first round, 38 pick with the Padres, then trend to the Rays, traded the Rays, then traded to the Marlins, triple A in Jacksonville, then got called up in 2023.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: The summer of 2023.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: They got was all accurate.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: Is that accurate?
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Spot on.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: All right, cool.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: Um what do you it's and your dad was your main coach.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: What do you feel like was like a like looking back?
13:30
SPEAKER_01: All right.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, because you represent like, I mean, 0.01% of athletes that have excelled, stayed healthy, and been able to produce and be, you know, successful in your sport at a high level, um, long enough to make to the bigs, you know, to make to the show.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: What do you was there a turning point looking back where you're like this was a turning point, you didn't maybe didn't know at the time, but it was a turning point.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: We're like headed in a saw like a strong direction.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: Um, I would say, I mean, early on in high school, I committed to Vanderbilt.
14:05
SPEAKER_03: I would say I was I think it was my the summer going into my sophomore year.
14:09
SPEAKER_03: I was committed to Vanderbilt.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: Like a verbal commitment.
14:12
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I had a verbal commitment, and then you know, senior year I signed my national level intent.
14:15
SPEAKER_03: Um To Vanderbilt.
14:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, to Vanderbilt.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: So I had a verbal commitment to Vandy.
14:19
SPEAKER_03: So I knew that I guess from my sophomore year, um, I would that I was a good player, you know, to what extent.
14:27
SPEAKER_03: I guess I didn't fully know, but I knew I was a good player and that I at least was gonna play at a high college level.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I would say going into the summer going into my senior year, there's a lot of you know, perfect game showcases and East Coast Pro Showcase and Florida Diamond Club and Area Code games, like all these things on the amateur circuit that are super important if you want to, you know, get drafted at high, uh, because there's a bunch of scouts at all these events.
14:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I knew that summer, um, I had a really good summer.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh won, you know, our team won some of the biggest tournaments.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: Um, I played really well at those tournaments.
15:01
SPEAKER_03: We had a lot of eyes on this because our pretty much our whole team was committed to like a D1 school, like major D1 school.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: Um, so like we highly touted team.
15:08
SPEAKER_03: We had a lot of like highly sought after players.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: Um was there a lot of legit competition through that, or were you crushing everybody?
15:16
SPEAKER_03: Yes, no, plenty of plenty of legitimate, like a lot of the teams we're playing are maybe not a lot, but you know, like our team is ranked super high.
15:25
SPEAKER_03: So it's like, you know, when you're ranked high and you go to these tournaments are like a week long, you know, where some other teams might see, you know, a team's like third or fourth best starter.
15:33
SPEAKER_03: It's like everyone they play us and they're gonna throw their best starter every time you play because they're trying to beat us because we have like we kind of like a big name, the organization a huge name.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and yeah, we're stacked, yeah.
15:42
SPEAKER_03: And we had a bunch of players.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: But that's good though.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like I feel like it's not fun if it's like you're beating everybody eight to zero every game.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's important, it's important to have like those dog fights and because also show scouts like but you gotta grow, you know, like you gotta have some competition.
15:56
SPEAKER_03: How you play against like high-level competitions a bit.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: Uh so we did that.
16:01
SPEAKER_03: So I would say around that time, I kind of knew I had a really big summer, all this showcase things I performed really well.
16:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I knew that I would be in a good spot.
16:11
SPEAKER_03: Now, what where exactly, I wasn't too sure.
16:13
SPEAKER_03: And then the high school season came around, and scouts were coming to the school almost every day.
16:16
SPEAKER_03: Like you talk to me and do meetings and you guys kind of see who I was, what kind of teammate I was, what kind of person I was, my family, talk to my teammates.
16:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, so kind of getting a gauge on me.
16:26
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I I think at that time I knew I was like, okay, like there's probably a good chance I'm not going to college and I'm gonna get drafted pretty high.
16:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was just kind of a matter of where and you know, talking with my agent and getting engaged on that.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: Did you play your senior in high school?
16:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, how'd that season go?
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, good.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: Was that a pivotal like solidify solidification of like getting drafted?
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Or do you think before that like really wouldn't have mattered how well you'd have done?
16:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think I put myself in such a good spot from the summer prior that the high school season was really just fun.
17:00
SPEAKER_03: It was just showing or you know, doubling down on what I already was showing had shown before.
17:06
SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's really what it was.
17:08
SPEAKER_03: I was just enjoying my time.
17:09
SPEAKER_03: I was playing, you know, trying to win all the games I could.
17:12
SPEAKER_03: I was playing really well, and um, that's what we needed for our team to succeed.
17:17
SPEAKER_03: And um, that was really what it was.
17:19
SPEAKER_03: You know, scouts were around, uh, but the game is it's easier in high school than it is in the summer.
17:24
SPEAKER_03: You know, the summer is you know, customized teams where kids from like our travel team, we had kids from everywhere.
17:31
SPEAKER_03: Our I was one of two kids from the state of Florida, we had kids from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, California, like you name it.
17:37
SPEAKER_03: We had kids like one of the better five to ten kids in the state, yeah, from whatever state was on our team.
17:43
SPEAKER_03: And that was which team?
17:44
SPEAKER_03: Evo showed canes.
17:45
SPEAKER_03: Where are they out of Virginia?
17:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: That was a team that you were in Virginia.
17:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's our our head coach was from Virginia.
17:52
SPEAKER_03: So like our team was out of Virginia, but like I don't even know if we even had a player from we all just met at tournaments.
17:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we'd meet and like practice at the tournament and then like play.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: You'd be like, Hey, my name's Xavier.
18:02
SPEAKER_03: Well, we we knew each other, yeah.
18:03
SPEAKER_03: We played together for like we played the year prior together.
18:06
SPEAKER_03: It's just like our our team is the kids are made up from everywhere in the country, but we knew each other because either you heard of each other from perfect game or you know, rankings or showcase, or we've played together like the year the summer before.
18:18
SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, with that, I mean pretty much the canes was it's way harder for that than high school, high school.
18:28
SPEAKER_03: It's like you know, you're limited to like local kids.
18:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you get some transfers sometimes out of state if you're you know a prep school, like a prestigious private school, but for the most part, it's like local kids.
18:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, your team may not be as good, like I would expect it to be as good as a travel team is, but you know, the other team's not going to be as good as what you're facing in high school in the summer either.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: So that's where it's a bit different.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's cool.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Um it's interesting.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Like with I mean, I I appreciate um the opportunity for a lot of high-level players to then meet together and then you work with each other.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, I can't let this dude I'll show like I can't work me, you know, and then the iron sharpens iron.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a really cool.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've always noticed for myself personally, but also athletes we've worked with or um people that I've coached, people have been around and stuff, they an eye-opening experience when they have a lot of like a lot of studs around and they're like, Oh, I thought I was working.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not working that hard.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, compared to what I need to step in my game, you know?
19:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because iron sharpens iron, you know, my opinion.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: So, what was your which you got called up um to the Marlins summer of 2023?
19:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, and how old you were you at that point?
19:38
SPEAKER_03: I was twenty twenty-two?
19:42
SPEAKER_03: Three, turning twenty-four?
19:45
SPEAKER_03: Twenty-four.
19:46
SPEAKER_03: I was twenty four.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: Twenty-four.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: So it was almost three and a half, it was in 2022.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: Three and a half years ago.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: Two and a half years ago, sorry.
19:54
SPEAKER_03: 2023.
19:55
SPEAKER_03: So you're like 23 and a half.
19:56
SPEAKER_03: It was yeah, I really should remember the date, right?
20:00
SPEAKER_03: It was like June or July.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: It's all right.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, all right, so what was that experience like?
20:04
SPEAKER_01: You were in AAA with Jacksonville?
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, got the call.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, what'd the coach do?
20:10
SPEAKER_03: Uh we were on the bus.
20:11
SPEAKER_03: Actually, we had just flown from Jacksonville to Memphis.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
20:14
SPEAKER_03: And we landed in Memphis, we were taking the bus ride.
20:17
SPEAKER_03: So I'm sitting up at the front of the bus with our manager, which like I never did.
20:21
SPEAKER_03: I'm sitting with up at the bus, and he's like, Oh, he's like, Oh, like, you know, you're gonna have to he said something like you're gonna have to like pack up your stuff or like turn right back around, you're going to the big leagues.
20:33
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, dang, like, no way.
20:35
SPEAKER_03: And then I called my family and I told them the news that I was gonna go into the big leagues the next day.
20:40
SPEAKER_03: So I woke up at like, you know, 4 a.m.
20:42
SPEAKER_03: It's funny how you hear people's debut stories and they all kind of sound the same way.
20:47
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it's like, oh, I got the call and I woke up at 4 a.m.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: to go to whatever city the next day, and like mine rang the same way.
20:55
SPEAKER_03: It was like I woke up at 4 a.m., flew from Memphis to Miami, got there, went straight to the field, like got dressed.
21:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I got dressed, ate some food, like straight to practice, you know, trying to take it all in.
21:07
SPEAKER_03: And then I ended up getting in the game that night.
21:09
SPEAKER_03: I pinch hit in the ninth inning.
21:11
SPEAKER_03: I flew out.
21:12
SPEAKER_03: I was, you know, super just juiced up.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, swung out both the pitches I saw.
21:17
SPEAKER_03: Uh, ended up flying out, and then the next day I got my first hit.
21:20
SPEAKER_03: Oh, you did the next day?
21:21
SPEAKER_03: The next day, same thing against who?
21:22
SPEAKER_03: The Atlanta Braves were that.
21:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, then it was a pitcher.
21:27
SPEAKER_03: It was geez, lefty.
21:30
SPEAKER_03: Gosh, we face him so Dylan Lee.
21:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Dylan Lee.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: So and was that also a pinch hit?
21:36
SPEAKER_03: Or would yeah, pinch hit, same thing.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: We I came in like the sixth inning that day, and uh pinch hit got my first hit and where'd it go?
21:43
SPEAKER_03: Uh the rest of us are left center, okay.
21:46
SPEAKER_03: Single, yeah, single.
21:47
SPEAKER_03: I probably could have stretched it to two, but I did it.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're a bit we're getting we were down by like seven runs.
21:54
SPEAKER_03: It was pretty late in the game.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, so many emotions going through my head that I didn't.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Even think about it really.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: So cool.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: So you uh yeah, what did it what it like?
22:05
SPEAKER_01: You forgot into Miami, you got went in the locker room, cut your practice jersey on, or what it was practice stuff on.
22:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, change, you know, pack every locker, say what's up to some of the guys that you know from spring training, you know, talk to media a little bit, uh, just kind of about the experience and what it's like, and then yeah, straight to practice, you know, hitting around balls, throw, uh, warm-up, gym, yeah, cages, all that stuff, and then get ready for the game.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: And what was the game experience like compared?
22:34
SPEAKER_03: Uh so it was kind of easier for me because I was coming off the bench.
22:36
SPEAKER_03: So it was like the game started and I wasn't playing.
22:39
SPEAKER_03: So I was there, I was watching the game, and then mid-game came and I was like, okay, like the score is kind of out of reach.
22:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, he'll probably say something to me here soon.
22:48
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then that's what happened.
22:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they took what'd they say?
22:51
SPEAKER_03: They took the second basin out.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: Like, oh, like you're gonna go in in this spot, you're gonna like either play defense or you're gonna go hit in this spot if it comes up this inning.
22:58
SPEAKER_03: And then yeah, next thing I knew, it happened, and I was in the game.
23:02
SPEAKER_03: What did you think walking up to the plate?
23:05
SPEAKER_03: I was swinging pretty much for I'm swinging way.
23:09
SPEAKER_03: Like you try to slow it down and you know, it takes a bit of like it just wasn't happening.
23:13
SPEAKER_03: Like I was swinging pretty much regardless.
23:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I did.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm not not swinging, yeah.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, was there a moment where you were like, Man, all these travel balls, but practice with my dad, like this is it.
23:26
SPEAKER_03: No flashbacks, not at the time, but I would say as time passed, you know, you you say, you know, you did it, like you made it.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, all the work that you know my parents had put in and I had put in, and the people that have helped me along the way have put in that um helped get me to this point.
23:42
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you reflect a bit, uh, but then you know, you kind of get right back to work, like, okay, like they didn't do all this for nothing.
23:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we didn't do all this for nothing.
23:50
SPEAKER_03: So we keep pushing, you know, onward and uh keep working to to stay here as long as we can or as long as we want to be here, you know.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: And then the next night, also against the Braves at home, and then you pinch it in the seventh.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, pinch it.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: But you had your first hit, got my first hit one for one first pitch, first pitch swinging.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: Like I first pitch?
24:12
SPEAKER_03: First three pitches of the big leagues.
24:13
SPEAKER_03: I swung at all three of them.
24:15
SPEAKER_03: I'm going down swinging, man.
24:16
SPEAKER_03: Let's go.
24:17
SPEAKER_03: I'm not, I'm just not sitting around.
24:18
SPEAKER_03: I threw a fastball in the middle of the plate and put a good swing on it, got the hit, and uh yeah, super, super exciting.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how'd that feel?
24:25
SPEAKER_01: Great.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: You hit the ball, you saw go left center.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: Were you lefty at that time or righty?
24:29
SPEAKER_03: I was sitting righty, yeah.
24:30
SPEAKER_03: Righty was like a ground ball.
24:32
SPEAKER_03: It was your switch hitter.
24:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, ground ball kind of to the left of the shortstop, and um yeah, but in left center, just kept going and I just I stopped.
24:41
SPEAKER_03: But I wasn't gonna stretch it to a double because I was like, last thing I need is to get thrown out, stretching a double down eight in the seventh inning.
24:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, on your second at bat.
24:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
24:50
SPEAKER_03: My second at bat and be like it's just just boneheaded, but um yeah, so you made the right decision.
24:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I could have I I would have made it, but it was just like there's really no reason to force the issue in that situation.
25:02
SPEAKER_03: For where you're at now, it doesn't matter.
25:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, now I probably would have stretched it, but I also wouldn't have been feeling that kind of antsy, jittery surge of adrenaline feeling when I go to the box.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: I bet.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, did you have another bat that night?
25:19
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I flew up.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: All right.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: How'd you feel going over to the second at bat having already had a hit?
25:26
SPEAKER_03: I felt like I was playing with hell of some money.
25:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I felt like I'm good now.
25:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was like, okay, I got the first out of the way.
25:31
SPEAKER_03: Because some people like it takes them a while to get the first one, so they're like kind of pressing a little bit.
25:36
SPEAKER_03: You know, they're not working at bats the way they normally do because they really want to get the first one.
25:40
SPEAKER_03: And I understand I was the exact same way.
25:42
SPEAKER_03: Totally.
25:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I was glad I got it.
25:44
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, okay, I could just take a more normal at bat this one.
25:47
SPEAKER_03: You still feel like a little different in the box, like a little more um amped up and jittery, but yeah, totally.
25:52
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, you try your best to treat it like a normal at bat.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: And you stayed, uh you hadn't gone down, you stayed with the with Marlon since then.
26:00
SPEAKER_03: No, no, no, no.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: I got set down four to five days after that.
26:07
SPEAKER_03: Four or five days after.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: So you were up for like four games.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was up for like, yeah, like five or six games, like the week pretty much.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: And then went back to triple A.
26:15
SPEAKER_03: And then yeah, one of our other players got came off the injured list, so I went back triple A.
26:19
SPEAKER_03: And then I got called back up again a week later.
26:21
SPEAKER_03: A week after that?
26:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, someone else got hurt, so I got called back up again a week after that.
26:26
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I stayed up for three weeks that time.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: And in the meantime, you have no idea how long the stay is gonna be.
26:35
SPEAKER_03: You don't, but you do.
26:36
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's it's funny.
26:38
SPEAKER_03: You know when we when you're the guy that's called up, when people get hurt, you know that once somebody else gets healthy, that you're probably the one that's gonna go.
26:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, unless like something drastic happens and like someone's like really, really scuffling, and they're a candidate to be someone that they'll just like release, which like doesn't happen like that often.
26:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's more than likely that you're gonna be the one that gets sent down.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: So I knew once I started seeing like Instagram posts of oh, so and so is on a rehab assignment or so and so is on a rehab, it's like okay, like you know, he's two or three days out.
27:13
SPEAKER_03: Like yeah, the rehab assignments don't last that long typically, especially for position players.
27:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're not that long.
27:19
SPEAKER_03: It's maybe a series, you know, a three or four-game series, they get you know 10, 12 at bats, and they're coming back.
27:25
SPEAKER_03: So I knew it was like within a few days it was gonna come.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then the next one uh it lasted three weeks, and then someone else came back off the injured list.
27:33
SPEAKER_03: So I got set back down, and then um what happens unique to baseball, then to other, I think unique to baseball versus other sports is that for the last month of the season, the rosters expand.
27:46
SPEAKER_03: So for September, our active roster is 26 guys, so in September, you get two more guys, so the active roster goes to 28.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: So you get you can get one position player and one pitcher from triple A or whatever level you want if they're on the 40 men roster.
28:03
SPEAKER_03: Um, so uh September I had a good idea that I was gonna be called up because I had a really, really good year in triple A that year, and I'd already been up a few times, so I I had a really good feeling that it was gonna be me for the September call-up.
28:14
SPEAKER_03: So I was I was our September call-up, and then September I was with the big league team the whole month.
28:19
SPEAKER_03: Cool, and then we made the playoffs.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that 2023.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: So then 2024, you were big league invite to spring training.
28:26
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, big league, yeah.
28:27
SPEAKER_03: I was on the 40 man again.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, big league camp.
28:31
SPEAKER_03: And then I ended up getting hurt in big league camp and I missed the first two months of the season.
28:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I started the season on the 60-day IL, kind of a freak incident.
28:41
SPEAKER_03: We talked about this, yeah.
28:42
SPEAKER_03: My foot infection, uh, kind of a freak incident, and then but then you were up there since then.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: So all of 2024, once you were off injury reserve.
28:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, once I came off the IL, I spent like three weeks in AAA uh just getting at bats because I missed all the spring with the at bats, and then they called me up and been upset.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: So almost all the 2024 season, all of last year.
29:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: So this would be like your third full big league season.
29:07
SPEAKER_03: Yes, this will be my third full big league season.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, the injury.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, we can briefly touch on it.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: You said it was like your Achilles, right?
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Or was it no my foot?
29:15
SPEAKER_01: Just a foot?
29:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: Staph infection.
29:17
SPEAKER_03: I had uh yeah, bacterial infection in my bloodstream from my foot.
29:21
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:22
SPEAKER_03: Athlete's foot turned bacterial infection.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: And you went swimming or something like that?
29:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:28
SPEAKER_03: I had athlete's foot coming into camp, just you know, sweating, practice, um, whatever it is, all the exercise I did.
29:34
SPEAKER_03: And I said, Oh, like, you know, I may as well get it taken care of now.
29:38
SPEAKER_03: I'm at spring, I've been in spring for a week.
29:40
SPEAKER_03: I might as well get it taken care of.
29:41
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then yeah, I put it.
29:44
SPEAKER_03: I was told that putting it in chlorine could help kind of dry it out, or like put in the pool or the ocean could help the salt water or the chlorine, whatever could help dry it out.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: So, okay, the house we're staying at for spring has pool.
29:56
SPEAKER_03: So, okay, let me go in at night.
29:58
SPEAKER_03: You know, I wanted to get it better, so let me go in at night and put my foot in the pool for you know 10 minutes and then call it a day.
30:04
SPEAKER_03: Did that got in the shower, got out.
30:07
SPEAKER_03: My foot was like on fire.
30:09
SPEAKER_03: Like touched my foot touched the sheet and it hurt.
30:12
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, maybe this is a part of the healing process.
30:17
SPEAKER_03: Maybe this is a tough part of the healing process.
30:19
SPEAKER_03: That's what that was my thought.
30:20
SPEAKER_03: It was optimistic thinking.
30:23
SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, I woke up the next day and I couldn't walk.
30:25
SPEAKER_03: Like my foot, the cut was between so it was between my pinky toe and my fourth toe.
30:30
SPEAKER_03: And the cut had it was just in the middle and it had spread like underneath my toe.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: So every time I flexed the toe, it hurt.
30:38
SPEAKER_03: So that's why I was having so much pain walking the next day.
30:41
SPEAKER_03: And then with that opening in the skin, you know, the chemicals in the pool and all that stuff mixed.
30:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, it became a you know, bacterial infection, and then it had sat for long enough that it because they didn't know what it was, because I had some like kind of bubbling of the skin on top of my foot.
30:58
SPEAKER_03: So they thought it was just that, and then yeah, push came to shove, and they figured out that it was uh bacterial infection in my bloodstream.
31:05
SPEAKER_03: So I had to, you know, I went to the hospital, stayed overnight, uh, had an IV in my arm for 13 days.
31:12
SPEAKER_03: 13 days IV.
31:14
SPEAKER_03: A midline, yeah, they call it.
31:16
SPEAKER_03: So I guess you were in the hospital for 13 days?
31:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was in there for a day.
31:18
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
31:19
SPEAKER_03: Most people would have been, but since I was like an athlete, they made some exceptions.
31:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, so they put the midline in my bicep.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: So I guess they have like there's different kinds of IVs, you know, you're dehydrated, you get one kind of IV where it just sits in, you know, like where you normally draw blood from in the middle of your arm.
31:35
SPEAKER_03: Um, but then they have like a midline where they put it, it's like more long term.
31:39
SPEAKER_03: So they put it like in your bicep because it's easier like to reach the blood from there for like longer periods of time.
31:44
SPEAKER_03: Um so they put in the bicep and it kind of goes up a little bit, you know, probably about like that long.
31:51
SPEAKER_03: It's like a little plastic kind of tube that goes in your arm.
31:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then they have like a pick line that like goes all the way to your heart, like people that are have those in for you know months on end.
32:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh so I had a midline in, uh yeah, went to the hospital, put it in, did a bunch of blood work, you know, confirmed the bacterial infection, so on and so on.
32:10
SPEAKER_03: And then they put that in my arm.
32:13
SPEAKER_03: Uh the next day they let me out of the hospital.
32:16
SPEAKER_03: I got discharged, and then at the hotel, um, I couldn't sweat.
32:21
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't get the midline wet.
32:24
SPEAKER_03: And I had it in for yeah, two weeks.
32:26
SPEAKER_03: A nurse would come to give me my IV, which was my medication, uh, for at 6 a.m., 2 p.m., and 10 p.m.
32:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, every eight hours, three times a day for 13 days.
32:39
SPEAKER_03: Couldn't sweat, yeah, couldn't get it wet.
32:41
SPEAKER_03: So I had like basically like a little floaty on my arm to keep my arm from getting wet in the shower.
32:46
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't let my feet get wet because I had the open wound between my feet, um, between my foot.
32:52
SPEAKER_03: So it was a for sure a journey.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: So then the year started.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: And so then after that, how did you feel?
33:01
SPEAKER_01: Pigline came out.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: You're like, you're good now.
33:04
SPEAKER_01: You can sweat.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: First workout.
33:07
SPEAKER_03: Um, they started me off slow, which was nice.
33:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
33:10
SPEAKER_03: Going to the gym, doing light stuff, uh, just getting my arm back in shape, getting my body back in shape.
33:15
SPEAKER_03: Just sitting for two weeks, not sweating, not really doing much, just walking a little bit.
33:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, they eased me back into it.
33:22
SPEAKER_03: And then I kind of got ramped up after that kind of quick.
33:25
SPEAKER_03: Like after the first five to seven days of me like taking it pretty easy.
33:29
SPEAKER_03: It was like, okay, how's it feel hitting?
33:31
SPEAKER_03: How does it feel running?
33:32
SPEAKER_03: Change of direction, um, that kind of thing.
33:36
SPEAKER_03: And then once I kind of got my win back, it was like, okay, like, you know, a couple games, and then you were gonna send you to Jacksonville for rehab assignment.
33:43
SPEAKER_02: Cool.
33:43
SPEAKER_03: And then I went to Jacksonville, I rehabbed for yeah, a few weeks.
33:48
SPEAKER_03: And then yeah, I got called up.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, you're good now.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's crazy.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, what would you so with uh your big league experience?
34:00
SPEAKER_01: All right, what would you say other requirements of like to perform compared to like travel ball when you're younger and then also like minor leagues?
34:12
SPEAKER_03: Travel ball is the most fun baseball you're going to play, in my opinion.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: Like travel ball and high school baseball is the most fun ball, and probably college ball for some guys.
34:26
SPEAKER_03: I didn't get to play college baseball, so I can't touch on it too much.
34:28
SPEAKER_03: But from what I've heard, like that's the most fun baseball you're going to play because baseball is just baseball in a sense at that point.
34:38
SPEAKER_03: You know, you play in travel ball, you play on the weekends.
34:42
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, you go through four or five days of school and you practice, you know, however many times a week, and you're looking forward to that that those games on the weekend.
34:50
SPEAKER_03: You're looking forward to, you know, going to Orlando and getting a hotel or renting a house with your friends and your friend's family, and you play three games in a day and you eat hot dogs between games and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and you go to bed late and you wake up early and you play three more and you're ecstatic.
35:08
SPEAKER_03: And same thing in high school.
35:09
SPEAKER_03: It's like high school.
35:11
SPEAKER_03: You play on Tuesday and you play on Friday and you practice, you know, Monday, Wednesday, or Monday, Thursday, and then you know, the weekends you're probably off, or weekends you're doing something for travel ball or training.
35:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then same thing, you know, college, they play, I know they play the weekend series and they play in midweek on a Wednesday.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: Um, and they're going to class, you know, between that, they have the practices more frequently.
35:35
SPEAKER_03: Um, but you're you're going towards a common goal.
35:37
SPEAKER_03: High school, you're trying to win states, amateur, you're trying to win the tournament.
35:41
SPEAKER_03: In college-based, you know, you're trying to win the College Road series or you know, have a good year, whatever it is.
35:46
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then the seasons are just so much shorter.
35:49
SPEAKER_03: You know, high school you play 25, 30 games, travel ball, you play 40, 50, college, you play 50, 60.
35:57
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then Pro Bowl, you play, you know, your first year, but you're looking at 140 games, and it's six days a week.
36:06
SPEAKER_03: There's no more class and like splitting it up.
36:09
SPEAKER_03: There's no, I'm gonna go hang out with my friends, like mix it up.
36:11
SPEAKER_03: It's like, nope.
36:12
SPEAKER_03: Monday we got a game, Tuesday we got a game, and our off day.
36:17
SPEAKER_03: I know in the minors now the off day is on Monday, and they play Tuesday to Sunday, and the off days Monday.
36:23
SPEAKER_03: But like for us, it's like we'll go 13 in a row.
36:26
SPEAKER_03: Like today, starting today, like we have 12 straight days of practice.
36:30
SPEAKER_03: Our first game's on Saturday.
36:31
SPEAKER_03: We know our next off day is not till uh next Sunday.
36:35
SPEAKER_03: And this is just spring, like during the season, it's the same kind of thing.
36:37
SPEAKER_03: It's like but it's not just like five days of practice, and then you know, we have six days of games, yeah.
36:43
SPEAKER_03: It's 13 straight days of games and then an off day, or seven and then an off day, and then seven more while we're traveling from here to Seattle to Boston to back here for a week to Pittsburgh to New York and then back for a week.
37:02
SPEAKER_03: So it's there's so much, so much more time that we spend doing it, and we don't spend as much time doing the other stuff anymore.
37:11
SPEAKER_03: Where it's like, you know, school can break it up for you.
37:13
SPEAKER_03: You're in school for eight hours, and you know, yeah, obviously, we all, or at least I personally like I like baseball a lot more than I like school.
37:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, but you know, it was it's something that you didn't appreciate at the time, but I appreciate it even more so now, like what I do off the field, because that's what can can help me get the best out of myself on the field just from like breaking it up because it becomes so routine and it's not like okay, I get like I'm playing this weekend.
37:38
SPEAKER_03: It's like no, I'm playing every weekend from from now till September or October.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: So, what what are those things?
37:45
SPEAKER_01: And break it up, you mean like just removing yourself from that so that you have a different perspective, yeah, or appreciate, don't get burnt out.
37:51
SPEAKER_03: Right.
37:52
SPEAKER_03: So you don't burn out, you don't just like the mental load of playing every day is a lot, and playing multiple seasons is a lot, and anyone that says otherwise is lying because it's a lot, like frequently.
38:07
SPEAKER_03: Like I I hit today in the cage, and I'm like thinking so many different things in my head like, oh, what's my load look like?
38:14
SPEAKER_03: Like, how do I make my load better?
38:16
SPEAKER_03: How make my swing better, how I swing at better pitches.
38:18
SPEAKER_03: Like, you just because we're perfectionists, you know, we want to excel at what we do, yeah.
38:22
SPEAKER_03: And it's so easy for that to never turn off and to come home and I'm thinking about my swing, or I'm watching videos from 2024.
38:32
SPEAKER_03: You know, now I'm like, how do I get back to that swing or how do I implement that?
38:37
SPEAKER_03: Or what was I thinking there?
38:38
SPEAKER_03: How do I get back to that approach?
38:39
SPEAKER_03: And it's so easy to like never turn it off because we want to get better.
38:43
SPEAKER_03: Um, but it's also important to kind of disconnect and try the best you can to, you know, take a step back or look at it from you know a wider lens, um, to give yourself a chance to be, you know, refreshed or renewed for the next day, for the next game, for the next opportunity.
38:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
38:59
SPEAKER_03: So that you're not just drawing on the past ones and like, yeah, burning yourself out.
39:03
SPEAKER_03: Totally.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: So I definitely agree with that.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: Where like a little bit of removal that changes your perception, your perspective and perception on things.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, and honestly, like it helps me I could start and be sharper, you know.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, you get the same mundane ruts, and then it just isn't the best pathway to success.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: Right.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: What are those things for you though?
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Spending time with my wife.
39:22
SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, y'all just got married.
39:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, a month ago.
39:25
SPEAKER_03: She's I mean, yeah, we've been together for six years, just got married uh a month ago.
39:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and uh great.
39:30
SPEAKER_03: Frequently, thank you.
39:31
SPEAKER_03: Frequently puts a smile on my face, um, is a walking representation of perspective for me.
39:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, life is just is so much bigger than me as the individual.
39:43
SPEAKER_03: It's so much bigger than me as the baseball player.
39:46
SPEAKER_03: It's like, okay, like what kind of husband am I gonna be to her after I just went 0 for 4 and had a bad game?
39:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:53
SPEAKER_03: It's like I can't let how my play, you know, dictate what kind of husband I'm gonna be for my wife, or what kind of friend I'm gonna be for, you know, my best friend, what kind of son I'm gonna be for my mom, or you know, brother for my sister.
40:07
SPEAKER_03: Like, um, that's the challenge that I've put on myself because um I've seen it where people because it's so easy to bring it home with you.
40:15
SPEAKER_03: It's so easy to um have the next game just creep up on you.
40:20
SPEAKER_03: It's like, oh, our game finished at 10 and I ate dinner and I'm thinking about my three at bats tonight.
40:25
SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, I see family for a little bit, but I have a bad attitude because of how my three or four at bats went tonight, and I'm gonna go home and still gonna have a bad attitude because of how my bats went.
40:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, then you go to sleep and you wake up and it's time for you to go to the field again.
40:39
SPEAKER_03: And like you thought you escaped it, but you escaped it those eight hours you were sleeping, and that's it.
40:43
SPEAKER_03: And you weren't wise for while you're awake, you're going right back to the field again.
40:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you have to think you're gonna, if you're trying not to think about it, you gotta think about it again because now it's time for you to hit again.
40:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:52
SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, that's that's what I've been challenging myself with.
40:55
SPEAKER_03: Just take a step back.
40:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:58
SPEAKER_03: Um, look at it for what it is.
41:00
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's a game that we love and you know, provides for you know, myself and my family.
41:05
SPEAKER_03: Um, but at the end of the day, it's a game.
41:08
SPEAKER_03: Like we're so blessed, we're we're so fortunate compared to so many other people.
41:11
SPEAKER_03: Like so many people have like real-world issues and and things that are so unfortunate that I wouldn't want anyone to go through.
41:18
SPEAKER_03: And I'm fortunate enough to not have to do that.
41:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's really just like trying to put it in perspective, trying to have the balance of uh not being complacent and being driven, but not uh obsessive.
41:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's where the challenge is.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: So um and yeah, being like it's that's a great, it's huge.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: What what activities do you do?
41:38
SPEAKER_01: So your wife, what else?
41:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh I play tennis.
41:41
SPEAKER_03: All right, I didn't play tennis.
41:43
SPEAKER_03: No, I won't play can't.
41:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I won't play anymore.
41:45
SPEAKER_03: I play video games a good bit.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Me and my wife actually played some video games last week.
41:48
SPEAKER_03: You play together?
41:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we played this cooking game called Overcooked.
41:51
SPEAKER_03: What?
41:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, cooking game.
41:53
SPEAKER_03: Two little chefs, and we were making you gotta make sushi and you gotta chop up the meat, and you gotta put it in the fryer, you gotta make fries, chicken and potatoes.
42:02
SPEAKER_03: It's funny.
42:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, so we play this cooking game that we like to play together, uh called Overcooked.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
42:07
SPEAKER_03: Um, I play some shooting games with some of my buddies.
42:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, but yeah, it's really easy, it's usually family time.
42:12
SPEAKER_03: Like um, I love spending time with my wife.
42:15
SPEAKER_03: Um, I love spending time with my family, my my parents.
42:18
SPEAKER_03: Uh, same thing with her family, her parents or her siblings.
42:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, so when we're down in Miami, you get to see them a lot.
42:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, when we're up here, we get to see my family a lot.
42:25
SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's usually what my time consists of, like talking on the phone.
42:28
SPEAKER_03: I I like talking on the phone a lot more than I like texting.
42:32
SPEAKER_03: I used to be the opposite way, like you know, growing up as a kid, you you know, you love texting, you got a phone, a smartphone, you love just texting.
42:37
SPEAKER_03: And then now that I've gotten a little bit older, I'm like, man, like I was wondering, like, oh, why is my dad always on the phone?
42:42
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, actually, I understand.
42:43
SPEAKER_03: Like now, sometimes I'm bored and I just like want to call my friends.
42:46
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, hey, what are you doing?
42:47
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like you want to play Xbox, or you know, but how's it how's your girlfriend doing?
42:52
SPEAKER_03: Or yeah, uh, what'd you do today?
42:54
SPEAKER_03: So, like, it's so it's so much easier for me now to like talk to my friends and like text like ah it's huge.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: I leave my phone for 20 minutes, I gotta pick back up the phone, the the message, uh where we're at, the conversation, you're bouncing between that and 10 other text messages you get.
43:09
SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, I'm talking to my friends on the phone.
43:12
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes they got good stuff from me, baseball-wise.
43:14
SPEAKER_03: A lot of my friends played baseball, or um, so they got some good stuff from me baseball-wise.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: So what about reading?
43:19
SPEAKER_03: You're reading I do, yes.
43:21
SPEAKER_03: Um, mental skills coach of mine that we just had, we no longer have me.
43:25
SPEAKER_03: Just took the job at University of South Carolina of football, uh, Marius Alexa.
43:30
SPEAKER_03: He uh put me on to um Ryan Holiday, uh The Obstacle is the way.
43:35
SPEAKER_03: Um, so learning a bit about stoicism and uh kind of what that entails and what that way of life is and the belief system behind that.
43:43
SPEAKER_03: And that's been uh super, you know, uh informative for me and uh just helpful and just thinking that everything is in your control and there's something that you can do about pretty much every situation you're in.
43:53
SPEAKER_03: And then uh I read another book called Uh Mastery by George Leonard, uh just you know same thing I Talking about earlier about being like driven but not obsessive and um just you know being on the master's journey and not on the the the dabbling journey or or the obsessive journey of being somewhere in that middle where you're uh driven towards what you you want, but you don't let it take over your life.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: I love those.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: I have not read Mastery, I have not read The Obstacles Away, but I am a Ryan Holiday fan.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: Um I read one of his other books, but I'm a huge advocate for stoicism.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: Um it's man, it makes so much sense.
44:29
SPEAKER_01: Right.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's calming.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: You know, like it's because it it it helps keep like a good, steady mental approach to things.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: Not like no emotions at all.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: And I mean stoic in that sense, but just like emotional management, right?
44:46
SPEAKER_01: And um not flying off the handle, but then also recognizing what you can and can't control and then focusing on things you can control.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: That's what I took from it.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I love that.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: I wish I would have known that stuff when I played sports myself, you know, or a lot of journey that I've been through like up to this point.
45:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, that's that's awesome.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: That's good.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: So you take some of that stuff with you as like an athlete to the field?
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I've got yeah, my books with me.
45:08
SPEAKER_03: I've got my books with me.
45:09
SPEAKER_03: I do I do Sudoku as well.
45:11
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: I I do like Sudoku, so I do that, kind of keep my brain sharp and then read with the mastery and stoic stoicism type philosophies.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: What things do you take with you to practice and like when you actually when you play?
45:24
SPEAKER_03: Um it's really just like control the controllables.
45:28
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's so easy to um it's so easy to point blame on you know something else, or something else is the reason why you're not performing the way you want to, or the reason why you didn't get the result you want to.
45:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, but chances are there's something in your control that you could be doing.
45:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then also in mastery, it talks about it talks about these three different types of of people.
45:53
SPEAKER_03: And it says um the the three different types of people that aren't on the mastery, the master's journey, that's what the whole book's about.
45:59
SPEAKER_03: It's about like this guy who uh became a master of Aikidu, and it's like a type of kind of martial art that's like very difficult.
46:07
SPEAKER_03: And and the whole purpose is like, are you on the master's journey or are you not?
46:11
SPEAKER_03: Like mastering whatever it is in your life that you want to do, or are you not?
46:14
SPEAKER_03: And it's like there's three other close things that could seem like they're on the master's journey, but they're not.
46:20
SPEAKER_03: And he called it the um the dabbler, the hacker, and the obsessive.
46:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, so you know, the dabbler is pretty self-explanatory.
46:26
SPEAKER_03: It's someone who does something, doesn't get like immediate feedback, immediate gratification, and so they they stop.
46:33
SPEAKER_03: And then the hacker is someone who gets into something and they get to a point where like they're good at it and they don't keep pushing themselves to like be better.
46:44
SPEAKER_03: So they're just kind of content with wherever they are at, and then you know, that's the hacker.
46:48
SPEAKER_03: They're just mediocre, right?
46:50
SPEAKER_03: They're they're fine, they get to a point where they're like they're serviceable and they don't push past that because maybe they're afraid of failing or they're afraid of you know what that looks like, or they don't want to put in the effort to get better, and then the obsessive is you know, same thing, self-explanatory.
47:05
SPEAKER_03: It's someone who just kind of lets whatever it is that they're doing like take over and they want to like skip sex or or speed up the process instead of just letting the process play out the way it's supposed to.
47:15
SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's like those are the three things where it's so easy to like kind of put that to test.
47:20
SPEAKER_03: Like, okay, like what am I doing in this aspect of my life and like where do I line up?
47:23
SPEAKER_03: Am I am I doing one of these three or am I on the master's journey where I'm putting the time in, but I'm not rushing the process and I'm not um just so focused on the outcome more so than I am like on like the journey or like how I got there, yeah.
47:36
SPEAKER_03: Uh the mind frame that I'm in while I'm doing these things.
47:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
47:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's been that was really what I I pook I pulled from uh the book of mastery.
47:44
SPEAKER_03: Who was the author for that?
47:46
SPEAKER_03: George Leonard.
47:47
SPEAKER_03: And then yeah, I mean, stoicism, the same kind of thing, just like focus on what you control, love everything that happens to you because it happened for a reason.
47:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, which is so like it's such a extreme way of thinking, you know, love everything that happens.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's tricky, it's tough.
48:02
SPEAKER_01: Like it's true.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: It's it is true.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: Like one thing that I liked was like it was like anything any event that happens isn't actually good or bad.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just an event.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: It just happened.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like I've I've had conversations like that with people that aren't like and on that boat, and they're like, Oh yeah, so what about this?
48:22
SPEAKER_01: That's gotta be bad, right?
48:23
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, bro, I'm not a stoic philosopher.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying like if this makes sense and it just has a meaning of what we assign to it, right?
48:31
SPEAKER_01: And it's all just made up in your head.
48:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, if you view things from a broader lens, you're like, okay, like this seems super important to me, but to everyone else in my life, like this isn't that important, right?
48:43
SPEAKER_03: Like how I did in today's game is affecting me so heavily, you know, it's making me, you know, snappy at my wife, or yeah, um, come home and you know be short with my responses or you know, quick to anger.
48:55
SPEAKER_03: And it's like, well, she didn't play today.
48:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh or my parents didn't play today, my sister didn't play today, my friends didn't play today.
49:03
SPEAKER_03: So this is like world crushing for me, but for them, it's it's it's another day, you know.
49:09
SPEAKER_03: They they got to watch you know their loved one play a baseball game, do something that he enjoys doing, regardless of how you do the so um yeah, it's it's really an it's an ongoing challenge of mine that that you know, same.
49:21
SPEAKER_03: I was tested today, like doing offensive things in the cage and like being frustrated with like how I was doing them, like why am I not you know hitting the ball the way I want to?
49:32
SPEAKER_03: And it's you know, it's day one, or you know, not day one, we've been practicing a lot, but day one official spring training.
49:38
SPEAKER_03: It's like, why am I not doing this the way I want?
49:41
SPEAKER_03: Why am I not doing that the way I want?
49:43
SPEAKER_03: And um yeah, it's just a constant reminder, like just to check yourself, like yes, you can be upset about whatever it is that happened, um, but don't let it kind of boil over into other things.
49:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, to figure out a way to kind of mitigate it so that the next time I go, I'm not so angry about what I was angry about yesterday.
50:04
SPEAKER_03: Like when I go to the cage tomorrow, it would be a disservice if I went to the cage angry tomorrow about what I was angry about today.
50:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
50:11
SPEAKER_03: Like I need to be able to turn the page and like really turn the page mentally to get myself a fresh start tomorrow and not be like starting off on my back foot tomorrow because of what happened today.
50:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
50:23
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
50:24
SPEAKER_01: Last question, and we'll land the plane.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, what advice would you give young baseball players?
50:31
SPEAKER_03: Man, one thing.
50:32
SPEAKER_03: Uh I would say a couple of things.
50:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would say um make sure you have fun as cliche as it sounds.
50:38
SPEAKER_03: Like, really make sure you have fun and that you love playing because the game is going to test you.
50:44
SPEAKER_03: And like that's just what it is.
50:45
SPEAKER_03: The game is going to test you.
50:48
SPEAKER_03: And you know, how you weather the storm, whatever whatever outlets you have, um are important, but make sure you like you enjoy playing, that you love playing baseball because this isn't a game where you can just like get by without loving it because it's going to test you.
51:04
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna expose you.
51:05
SPEAKER_03: It is at some point or another, it's going to.
51:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, so just appreciate where you're at and enjoy you know the times with your friends, enjoy the the tournaments with your friends because you look back on them, and you know, you you want to every kid wants to make it to the major leagues, right?
51:19
SPEAKER_03: You know, make it to the hall of fame.
51:21
SPEAKER_03: And like here I am in the major leagues, like looking back on those times where I was, you know, 12, playing a travel tournament on the weekend with my friends, having the time of my life.
51:30
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, man, like baseball was simpler back then.
51:33
SPEAKER_03: It wasn't a business back then.
51:34
SPEAKER_03: It's like, yeah, you're you're so busy wanting to get somewhere else that you don't appreciate where you are.
51:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, totally.
51:41
SPEAKER_03: So like appreciate where you're at.
51:42
SPEAKER_03: Like it's so much fun trying to win a high school state championship or you know, being with your friends all the time and you know, doing boy stuff at high school and then going to play a game.
51:51
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, appreciate exactly where you're at because once you grow up, like there's no going back, like there's no yeah, you don't get that time again.
51:58
SPEAKER_03: So appreciate every moment that you have.
52:00
SPEAKER_01: I have a huge uh that's a huge thing for me is like trying because I've always been like, here's when I want to go, right, and blinded by currently at my goals and aspirations.
52:11
SPEAKER_01: How do you get there and then not enjoying the journey just being a destination person?
52:15
SPEAKER_03: So easy to be, yeah.
52:16
SPEAKER_03: Same.
52:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm the same way.
52:17
SPEAKER_03: Like, how do I get to where I want to get to?
52:20
SPEAKER_03: How do I get the results that I'm after?
52:22
SPEAKER_03: And like not appreciating all the the work, time, wherever it is, wherever it is that I'm at at that moment, like not appreciating that moment for what it is, and it's so easy to overlook.
52:32
SPEAKER_03: So I would say enjoy it.
52:34
SPEAKER_03: Uh be where your feet are, enjoy every moment you have playing this game.
52:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, things can always be worse, way, way, way worse.
52:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's right.
52:42
SPEAKER_03: We're so so unbelievably fortunate.
52:45
SPEAKER_03: Like people love us, people love watching us play a game.
52:49
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, people in our life love us.
52:51
SPEAKER_03: Like there's so many things that could go wrong that haven't, you know.
52:56
SPEAKER_03: So I just be fortunate, uh, be humble.
52:59
SPEAKER_03: Um, my dad has a saying.
53:01
SPEAKER_03: He said there's two types of players in baseball um the ones that are humble and the ones that will be humbled.
53:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's good.
53:06
SPEAKER_03: And it's the God's honest truth.
53:08
SPEAKER_03: I mean, the game will humble you.
53:10
SPEAKER_03: It will you think you're on top of the road and it'll bring you back down to earth quicker than quicker than it brought you that same success.
53:17
SPEAKER_03: Um, so just be humble, um, lift people up, don't live, don't tear people down.
53:21
SPEAKER_03: Um, encourage your teammates, um, encourage the people around you.
53:24
SPEAKER_03: Like people should want uh to be around you.
53:28
SPEAKER_03: People should want to be your teammate or to be your friend, or you know, people should want to be around you for who you are, um, because you lift people up and don't tear them down.
53:36
SPEAKER_03: So that's what's that's what I got for kids.
53:38
SPEAKER_01: Awesome, love that.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for coming in.
53:41
SPEAKER_01: Um any um and and I'm glad that we were able to, you know, meet and like help you on your journey and stuff.
53:49
SPEAKER_01: Um and good luck this season, you know, we'll be tuning in for sure.
53:53
SPEAKER_01: Um and if y'all have any questions, comments, concerns, or conflicting opinions, podcast ideas, don't hesitate to reach out or any pain that you're battling specifically.
54:00
SPEAKER_01: We can at least chat on the phone and and discuss maybe what you have going on and maybe point in the right direction.
54:05
SPEAKER_01: And we'll catch y'all next time.