I'm just sick right now...

8,764 Views | 31 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by RGLAG85
RGLAG85
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***** A follow up below. Sometimes those stronger than us are in control, and yes, I'm talking about God but also my son. *****



With the knee jerk decisions of the last 24 hours, my son and as an extension, my wife and myself, have had our baseball world completely decimated. It started with the cancel of the College World Series but it appeared the league's were taking a more "wait and see" approach. He and his teammates were told they would continue to workout and play scheduled team scrimmages. They would reevaluate the possibility of a resumed conference schedule in 2-3 weeks. Then today the B12 completely killed that.



He is a 5th year senior this year and made the decision to return to try and improve his draft stock. Many of you got to see him pitch the 8th & 9th against the Ags in Frisco. Without going into the long history, he's overcome incredible odds to be where he is today. He was fairly heavily pursued in last year's draft on the second day during the 8th thru the 10th round but decided he could assure himself more opportunities at the next level if he'd bet on himself and try to improve his draft position. In his two outings after Frisco, he struck out 8 of the 9 batters he faced and his trajectory was climbing fast. Then the rug was yanked yesterday and he was punched in the gut today. The unforeseen problem for these draft eligible players now is trying to keep themselves in game condition for 3 months until the draft. There's a big difference in bullpen shape than game shape and you just can't simulate games and live batters in a bullpen. Besides losing future opportunities to be scouted, staying in game shape will be the biggest challenge for these players. In a normal year, they transition straight from college competition to minor league ball. I really feel for these guys to have this kind of uncertainty for their lifelong dream. Another year of eligibility does him no good because age will become a factor. I'm truly depressed.

He pitches the last 6 outs of this video. #5. #6 is in the same situation.


Sorry for the rambling.........
ptothemo
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Whatever you do, don't apologize.

I really don't even know what to say here other than I'm devastated for your son and guys like him. This week has just been terrible for college baseball on so many levels, the most personal being for the guys who play.
MountainAg99
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Yep, no need to apologize. Continued good thoughts for Ben that he will achieve his dreams!

It sucks for all college players, but we will push on and persevere as a country supporting each other.
BeatHellOutOfTU
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Best of luck to him however this turns out!
Wildman15
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No need to apologize. This board understands and believes that the love of baseball extends far beyond just the love of a team. We hurt for these kids who have been grinding for years, only to have it violently taken away from them.
ensign_beedrill
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I am so, so sorry. This whole thing is just awful.
AggieBand2004
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W
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the situation is a complete mess
TAMU1990
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I also feel for the HS seniors. For many of them this is it. I hope that we can get back to school and play - even if that means staying out through mid April and going to school through June.
Wildman15
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"We're all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children's game. We just don't know when that will be. Some of told at 18, others at 40. But we're all told." Please let this not be the case right now
RGLAG85
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Thanks for the kind words! He and his "brothers" are hunkering down together and working out in a ghost town.
Aggieangler93
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It kills me that this damn virus has shut baseball down at all levels. It's the only organized sport I really care for. We feel your pain!
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
allenb
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Wendy 1990 said:

I also feel for the HS seniors. For many of them this is it. I hope that we can get back to school and play - even if that means staying out through mid April and going to school through June.
Yep, this is where we are. My son may have pitched his last game as he has no plans for baseball next year starting his engineering path.
aggiegolf86
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You know that feeling when you see a senior or a junior that is probably leaving early have a season ending injury getting carted off the field crying. That's how I feel for all these spring athletes now. Their season and careers ended way earlier than they all expected. Even for these young guys on quality teams. They will always wonder what their team might have accomplished this year.
RGLAG85
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I'll start with the lead up to the 2020 draft which was only 5 rounds. Many clubs reached out to see if he was going to use his extra year of eligibility or if he was signable. We knew they were going to have to mine for free agents due to the draft being so short, but a couple of clubs really stepped forward and were in constant contact with zoom calls and giving him customized workout plans. One club really stood out to him with the attention they showed him leading up to the draft. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical if it was just a sales job for free agency or whether it was legitimate interest. On the draft days, several clubs, Cubs, Giants and Tigers, were in constant contact and we had a pretty good scouting report of what they thought of him. On day two, one club's front office would contact him during each round and the executive that was talking to him kept telling him to be patient and he was pushing for him but was only one voice in the draft room. Ultimately, when the draft ended on Thursday night, he went undrafted and was disappointed but understood his odds in a 5 round draft. The club's couldn't reach out to the undrafted eligible players until 8am Sunday morning. My wife and I talk about how we'd find out how truly interested the clubs were by what time they contacted him on Sunday. At 8:01am Sunday morning, the Cubs called him and while he was on the phone with them, the Giants and Tigers called. He really liked the way the Cubs dealt with him prior to and during the draft. By 11am, he was on the phone with the GM and had received an email from the Cubs president. He decided to sign with them and was invited to a player limited fall instruct. He had a great fall instruct and we started to hear chatter from the front office about what level he might start his pro career. He had such a strong showing in the fall that we even heard rumblings that he might get a non-roster invite to MLB camp. His assigned strength coach told him to stop lifting heavily about a week before big league camp and get ready for PFPs. That didn't materialize so he went to the minor league camp a month later. He continued his good showing in spring training and started to believe the unbelievable, that he may start at Double A. As camp was winding down, he began to realize, with the number of players that had years and service time on him, he'd probably start at High A. On the last day of camp, they informed him he was being assigned to South Bend, the Cubs High A club. He had his car in Arizona so he made the 26 hour drive from Mesa to South Bend, In. and arrived Saturday at noon just in time for the work out that afternoon. Sunday morning, my wife and I, with my brother and sister in law in tow, left the metroplex for South Bend to watch his pro debut and take him necessities for living in a rental and warmer clothes. We stopped in Tulsa to eat lunch, had just got back in the car, booked our hotel for northeast of St. Louis and he called us. With my son's role as a closer, he never panics but he sounded very panicked. The call drops and as parents, we could only imagine the worst hearing the concern in his voice. When he called back, we asked if he was ok and what was wrong. He asked where we were and sounded as though he needed us to get there quickly. We told him we had stopped in Tulsa for lunch but were about to get back on 44 to head to St. Louis. He said we needed to redirect our trip to Kodak, Tn. because he had been promoted to Double A. Less than 24 hours in South Bend and he had to get back in his car and drive 8 hours to Tennessee. I've never been so happy to eat the cost of 2 hotel rooms for that night and half the Air BNB in South Bend. He made his debut on May 5th. On June 5th, he calls us, while they're in Birmingham to inform us he had been promoted to Triple A in Des Moines, Iowa. 30 days into his professional career he's a phone call away from Wrigley. In his first 16.2 innings for the Iowa Cubs, against grown ass men and rehabbing MLB players, he doesn't give up a hit and only 1 earned run. We begin to understand the "business" side of professional ball and eventhough the data guy and pitching coach kept telling him to be ready, he was about to be called up. Once the Cubs fell out of a playoff hunt and decided to trade their roster, I knew the chance of a call up was waning. With the rule 5 draft looming, the Cubs were going to use the rest of the year as a tryout for who they were going to protect. He was frustrated but knew he wasn't rule 5 eligible and they didn't have to worry about protecting him. The last month of the season, they put him on a "load pause" and sent him to Arizona to workout. They stopped him from throwing for 2 weeks and the only throw lightly after that. They gave him his workout program and sent him home telling him to get ready for big league camp in 2022.

Good article about his journey...










Tobias Funke
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So great; I'm sure you are very proud. Best of luck to him in the next year! Thanks for sharing the story
coastalAg
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Really impressive to move that fast through a minor league system. Even more impressive considering the lack of a senior season or 2020 MiLB experience.

Opening in Spring Training next year will be a complete thrill for you all!

Congrats on your son's success!
EKG1996
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Tom in College Station
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This is a great story! I too wish him luck on this journey. You may have talked about it before, but did A&M even offer him a scholarship?
RGLAG85
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Tom in College Station said:

This is a great story! I too wish him luck on this journey. You may have talked about it before, but did A&M even offer him a scholarship?
Tom, and everyone else, thanks for the kind words. We are excited for him! Yes, Rob offered but we felt like he was counting on my Aggieness to have some sway. It didn't and we wouldn't let it. He did leave the door open for more money though. Son had offers from pretty much every D1 in Texas as well as many outside the state. He really liked Rob Walton, the OSU pitching coach and that's where he eventually ended up signing. He was originally committed to Stanford, but after his high school injury, they rescinded the offer a week and a half before signing day. Again, pretty much all the schools that had originally offered contacted him and said they still wanted him including coach Childress. By then, he really wanted to work with coach Walton.
RGLAG85
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Last follow up.

BadMoonRisin
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WOW. Amazing story, I had to start from the beginning because i missed the OP. Congrats to your son. Hard work and persistence seem to have payed off.
HossAg
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That slider he has is ridiculous.
Capitol Ag
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RGLAG85 said:

Last follow up.


swimmerbabe11
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I hope I speak for everyone involved by saying that you can update as often as you would like.
love seeing the perspective of college players transitioning to pro..and it is good for the sport to give them as much publicity as possible.
RGLAG85
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HossAg said:

That slider he has is ridiculous.
Thanks, it truly is and what amazes me, it has that movement at 89-91 mph. His spin rate is ridiculous.
RGLAG85
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swimmerbabe11 said:

I hope I speak for everyone involved by saying that you can update as often as you would like.
love seeing the perspective of college players transitioning to pro..and it is good for the sport to give them as much publicity as possible.
I really appreciate that swimmer.
CapCityAg89
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This is the stuff I come to TexAgs to read. Congrats to you and your son. Thanks can barely imagine the pride. It would be my daughter playing a cello concerto with a city symphony. Those gigs aren't just handed out. Y'all earned this!!
ensign_beedrill
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Go, Ben, go!
Tom Kazansky 2012
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this is such a cool thread.
AggieBand2004
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Never feel like you're updating too much
RGLAG85
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RGLAG85 said:

HossAg said:

That slider he has is ridiculous.
Thanks, it truly is and what amazes me, it has that movement at 89-91 mph. His spin rate is ridiculous.


Speaking of spin rate...

This was yesterday.

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