How long ago was your son a college freshman baseball player? 2015
What level was he playing? Juco, D3, D2 or D1? Something else? Juco
Did he stay at that school through graduation? If not, how many different colleges did he attend?
- Yes, received an associate degree after his sophomore season. Drafted after junior D1 season, still in pro ball as of 2021.
If he switched schools, why did he switch?
- Transferred to Arkansas (SEC) after completing his sophomore year with an associate degree.
How much did your son play as a freshman? If he did not play, was he redshirted? If he was redshirted, when was he told about it?
- He played in a limited capacity, RHP - 9 games and 12 innings, he was raw and not particularly successful. He was converting from a corner infielder to a PO.
What were the biggest surprises and challenges for your son freshman year?
- Juco is like bootcamp, it’s about embracing, living and learning to love the suck with your teammates while working unbelievably hard toward that next level. If you don’t love the game, you wont stick in juco…
Overall, how was your son's experience as a freshman baseball player? Did it meet, surpass or miss his expectations? How about in regard to your expectations as a parent?
- He would have liked to play more. The Padres called in the late rounds of the 2015 draft, and he turned down $30K to have another helping of Juco, so I’d say it met or surpassed his expectations. For me, even though my son only played 12 innings I loved it! I took and gave away lots of photos of other parent’s kids (here’s the link). I think Juco baseball might be the purest level in the sport, you’ve really got to love the game and connect with your teammates to survive.
Based on your son's experience as a freshman baseball player and your's as the parent, what advice would you have for the freshman player and his parent?
- Don’t go into your kid’s freshman season with the expectation that he will see meaningful innings – even in juco. I used photography to keep busy while my kid was on the bench. Giving the other kids and parents photos gave me purpose while I got to see some great baseball. I’ve listened to lots of freshman parents grumble about playing time, when objectively their kids weren’t ready to be a full-time contributors either.
Did your son complete 4 years of college baseball eligibility? If not, why?
- He completed his junior year at Arkansas and was the Yankees 3rd round pick in 2017. He had early success in the minors, struggled in 2019 and didn’t play in COVID 2020, was ruled 5’d by the Indians and amazingly spent all 2021 in the MLB.
When the Padres called in 2015 and offered him $30K to sign and forgo his sophomore Juco season, I counseled him to start his pro career. He told me that $30K after taxes wouldn’t last very long and it wasn’t enough investment for the team to care about him. This a pretty good example of a baseball dad being starry-eyed, and punch drunk about the draft. He was drafted in the 18th round by Boston after his Juco sophomore season too. He turned down the $165K to become a Razorback, converted from a closer/reliever to a Friday night starter and moved up 15 rounds the following year. I also counseled him to take the Red Sox offer… Two takeaways, there’s no amount of money Trev would trade for his Arkansas experience and don’t ask me for help with draft choices…
Lastly, I never made it to the show as a photographer, but I did make it to the minors with the help of Topps.