ball5podcast/Double A Dream-One Step Closer

Moving from Single-A to Double-A means a player is one step closer to the Big Leagues—but it also brings an entirely new set of challenges.

In this episode, I talk about the Aggies who have made the jump to Double-A and what that promotion really means. The talent is better, the game moves faster, pitchers have more command, hitters make quicker adjustments, and weaknesses are exposed in a hurry.

I also break down the nuances of moving up another level, the physical and mental adjustments players must make, and why success isn’t always reflected in the numbers right away.

Then we look ahead to Triple-A. Is it simply the final step before the Major Leagues, or does it serve a different purpose? I explain the mix of top prospects, experienced veterans, organizational depth players, and Major Leaguers working their way back—and why Triple-A can sometimes be an even more complicated level to navigate.

The closer players get to the Big Leagues, the smaller the margin for error becomes. This episode is about what it takes to keep climbing.

The full video version of this conversation will be coming very soon to the Ball5 Clubhouse YouTube channel.

Production note: We experienced a minor microphone issue during part of this episode. The conversation is still clear, and we appreciate you sticking with us as we continue improving the Ball5 Podcast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hey everybody, thanks for joining the Ball 5 podcast. And for those of you that are listening through audio, thank you for listening. Those on YouTube Clubhouse, thanks for watching. I wanted to kind of cover something that I've got some questions now that we got some guys, aggy players in the minor leagues and making some moves. And I've had some questions about minor leagues and stuff like that. So I just want to kind of go through that and talk a little bit about what kind of transpires through the minor league season, right? So right now, I mean, recently we've had Jace LaDulette get called up to double A, the Akron Rubber Ducks, got to love that name. Ali Camarillo, he went to the uh Midland Rockhounds in the A's organization. So that's pretty cool. And so, you know, those two guys in double A now, that's a big step. And with Ali, he's he's at Midland with Will Johnston, uh Nathan Detmer, and Micah Dallas. That's pretty cool. It's four Aggies at the same. That's I mean, you don't see that very often, right? So I just think it's really cool that, you know, once you start getting the double A baseball, to me, that's when things really kind of start getting real. You know, when you you you take a look at this, we do have some other guys, Chris Cortez, trash pandas, love that name. Justin Lampkin, he's with the Royals organization, but he's currently injured. And Jacob Polish, Birmingham, uh White Sox organization. So, you know, him um, he's gotten in the big leagues before. He's pitched for a game, didn't have a good outing, but but you know what, he made it. So that's that's a huge deal. So to me, you know, a lot of the big question is, you know, double-A-ball, right? What does it represent in a player's career? Well, to me, that's kind of when the light bulb has to go off, right? Because to me, that's the most challenging uh level as you start to get in. So, you know, A-ball, they have rookie league. Baseball has levels, as you guys know. I mean, we used to have Rookie League was a city somewhere, you know, over the country that had them, but I think uh money took over and they trashed that and they ended up making a Florida complex league, Arizona complex league. And so people after the draft, rookies went there. I know I've talked about this before on this podcast, but uh they had those guys go there. That's kind of their rookie league, if you will. And then they have low A, high A, double A, triple A, and the big leagues. And so it it's a big deal, I think, to get to double A. I mean, you see a lot of guys, you know, they'll tool around in A ball and may be there for a year or two. You got to start getting out of there if you want to, you know, for your um career to progress. And I think it's a huge step to get to double A. And, you know, we've got guys in A ball right now that they're still just getting their feet wet, they're getting used to everything. Um, you know, they're just drafted this year. Kopian, Sorrell, Dewar, uh, Krahovac, and there's some other guys. And those guys will get the double A. I guarantee you they'll get the double A, no doubt. And they'll probably get higher. But I just think it's a it's a big deal to get there, and the light bulb has to go off because, you know, there's go on, because there's difficult questions, right? That double A is going to help you answer that A-ball didn't really. I mean, a lot of our guys come back from them from minor leagues and go, you know what, double A was, you know, it's kind of like SEC conference play. And, you know, watching these games on TV, I I mean, on this, you know, streaming, yeah, you can see it. I I can tell some of the pitchers, you know, golly, you know, double A, yeah, they got better stuff. So, I mean, when it's just a to me, it's just a big deal to get to double A. And that's why I kind of want to talk about that in this segment. So, what does a promotion really mean? To, you know, to me, it means, you know, the organization is like, okay, you've proved to us that you can do this. Let's see what she can do as the levels go up. And in every organization's mind, it's more difficult, right? So it's it's an accomplishment for the player for what he's done, but also the organization needs to find out, okay, what do you got for us? What where can you go from here? So it doesn't mean when you get moved up on something like that, you're a finished product. It just means that you're, you know, you're you're trying to develop at another level. And I'm and I'm and I'm gonna talk about this a lot, is that double A, I think, is where you start to really turn the corner and start to figure things out because the competition, it takes a tick up. Um, you know, you start to kind of see your weaknesses that might happen that or that you might have at the plate, on the mound, defensively, whatever it may be. I just think it it starts to kind of expose some of those weaknesses. And, you know, how do you react to those? Right. And things have to change. You have to make changes. I can tell you when I did not change my swing one iota from T ball, yeah, T ball to double A. Same all the way. Never change, never tinker, never, never nothing. Guess what I had in double A? 217. It was horrible. Worst year of my career, worst season. And it was because guys started to figure me out in double A. I mean, things just it just gets better. Pitching gets better, uh, pitchers have more command. And it's just uh it's just different to where you have to learn how to make adjustments. And I really think that starts in double A. Because you can, I mean, you can play through A ball, struggle a little bit, get some hits, and but there's not that starting guy that's gonna dominate and then a bullpen that dominates and a closer that dominates. Typically not at A-ball, because if they have those types of guys, they're probably in double A or higher. So that's why it's it's important, I believe, to get to double A and start going, all right, here we go. Let's figure it out. And guys are still gonna have the same success, right? That they've had, you know, they're gonna have it that they've had in the past, but it may not, you know, translate to as good because the levels get tougher. Pitchers got better breaking balls, right? If you're a hitter, and you know, the hitters can be better at the plate. It just works both ways. And and I just think it's uh it's important, it's an important level to start kind of really honing in on your game and figuring out what works and what doesn't. So back in the day, they didn't really advance players a lot. I mean, some of our guys are going up, you know, they're going for A-ball to double A in the middle of the season or double A to AAA or whatever. And, you know, I didn't have to go through that. I the only move I made in the middle of the year was triple A to the big leagues. And that was, you know, I went to, you know, they took care of you then at that point, right? So I don't know how these guys, you know, they travel, what's the deal, you know, going back and forth, but they start, they seem like they advance guys more rapidly now. And you see guys advance a lot quicker. And a lot of that's the money, right? So I can I can talk about, oh, I won't look at Braden Montgomery, for example. I mean, there's a name you know, right? So think about Braden. He in 2025, he hit 270. And, you know, OPS is a big thing they look at on base percentage plus slug. And they look at that, you know, strikeouts don't really matter anymore. The average doesn't really matter anymore. I mean, you still need to hit, right? Still need to figure that out. But they want the power, you know, the slug and the on base. So it he was 270 and he had an OPS between all the levels that he went. I think he was like rookie ball, A-ball, double-A his first year. He had a.804 OPS, which is excellent. And so if you look at Major League Baseball standards, 0.800, 800 to 900, they say is all-starring level. Now that's in the big leagues. That's everyday player. That's an everyday player, not a backup player, not a utility guy, not a pinch hitter. That's an everyday player. And so when you look at these numbers, you're like, okay, wow, he owned those levels. So that's why he advanced. He was started double A the next year, and he had a 1.035. That's like Hall of Fame in the big leagues, right? And then he went to triple A and he hit 912. That's his OPS. That's again, Hall of Fame level. So the guy being a switch hitter and having, you know, I mean, built like a linebacker, strong arm. He, I mean, and he hit 314. So in 2026, he went from double A to AAA to the big leagues because he was already dominating double A and AAA. It's like, where do you go next? There's no 4A, it's the big leagues, right? And so they promoted him and he hit a home run, I think, for his first at bat or a walk-off or something like that. Uh first hit, maybe. Uh, but it it's where you, you know, he was able to use his talent and ability to get through those levels. And I know he works at it, he's got hitting coaches and he's worked with Coach Early, and you know, he travels to see guys and they do all their research and work and stuff. But here's the point that I'm getting at about the AA and the minor leagues and stuff like that is you have to figure it out in the minor leagues. And because you can't really try and figure things out in the big leagues unless the team's gonna just say, hey, go get them. Whatever happens, happens. You're our guy. And that could be it for Braden. I saw an article earlier today that was written in Chicago and is about, you know, they were gonna be patient with him, even though he's having a little struggle at the plate. I mean, look at the I mean, look at his defense. If you didn't see the play the other day where he threw the guy out at third on a bullet from right field, another good thing, 95 mile an hour arm from right field, probably one of the best defensive arms in the outfield in the big leagues. I mean, the guy is, he's got tools, you know, just oozing out of him, right? So that's one reason that he just went. And, you know, a lot of times players are just better. I mean, there's guys that are just better. I mean, I saw a coach early in a podcast and me talking about 12, 13, 14-year-olds maybe. And he's like, you know, the guys on sometimes there's a guy that's just better. And it happens. It is. And I think he's one of those guys. But he's now starting to struggle a little bit, and I think it's tougher on it because he's struggling. I mean, I don't want to say struggling. He's hitting like 230 something in the big leagues now. That's awesome. But when you look at his OPS, it's 0.692. And so, in listening to the big leagues, that's a below average hitter for an everyday player. Okay. And it's early, it's his first year. So you got to give him some grace there, right? I mean, 56 games, he's played more than 58 games, I'm sorry, 26 walks, 54Ks. I mean, I know his numbers have changed, but he still has four home runs and he's hitting 230, 235. So I think the majors is where he's starting to figure out, okay, I need to do this or I need to tinker with it. And in that article that I talked about, he and one of the coaches, they were talking about to tweak this. And I think they mentioned he's standing more upright or he's doing something like that. He's he's hitting like, you know, a really low OPS. I think maybe right-handed or left-handed, whichever one, but the other one's better, that side of the plate. So I think it's very, very hard to get to the big leagues and try and adjust. And example, another couple names you might know or recognize, you follow, you know, SEC baseball, Dylan Creeves, first round pick for Washington Nationals. At the time I looked, he was hitting 212 with 10 home runs, 27 RBIs, 73 strikeouts, and 21 walks. A 644 OPS. Okay? Below average for an everyday player in the big leagues. That's that's how that's that's looked upon. So 2023, he had 844 OPS between three levels in the minor leagues. I mean, all-star, right? 2024, double-A, 789. You know, that's above average, 795, above average. But then he got to the big leagues for a little bit and it was 641. Mid-range, below average hitter, according to those numbers. Super talented, obviously. I'm just using the numbers. That's all I'm doing. I'm not saying anything about their talent or anything. I'm just making a point that, you know, and so 2025, he hit 726 in AAA. That's OPS, and 632 in the big league. So you're starting to see kind of a trend where the numbers in the minor leagues, OPS, man, awesome. You've done all you can do here. A little bit of struggle right here, according to the metrics, which is what they look at now. So it to me, it's a situation where you need to figure it out. You might be going good in the minors, but make that adjustment for that next level. So Caglione, a name from Florida, right? The pitcher hitter. Uh, 2024, he went to high A right after the draft, first round pick, 690 OPS. 2025, double A. Repeated double A. Uh, I mean, I'm sorry, first year at AA, 947 OPS. Then he went to triple A, 1.131 OPS. All-star, Hall of Famer, everything. Now 2026 in the big leagues, 823 OPS. That's an all-star, all-star level. I think he hitting a home run derby or something, maybe in the in the all-star game. But guys got 22 home runs, 22 doubles, 118 Ks, and only 29 walks. It just shows you. I mean, you know, they don't really care about the strikeouts as long as you're slugging and getting on base. He's doing the job, and that's done. He's made adjustments, he's figured it out. Where I think, like a guy like Dylan Cruz, ah, you know, maybe he needs more work in the minor leagues, which they did the first couple years, sent him down, brought him up. Braden, I think he's a guy that's talented that they're gonna stick with, right? And so that's my point about the minor leagues is I think you really need to kind of start figuring things out, tinkering with things, working on things, because it's gonna get better. It's gonna get more difficult. Pitching is better, and you're just gonna have to adjust to it. So let's move on and kind of go into the next thing about you know how the organization looks at the players. And a lot of it is money and the draft position, right? The the high pick is gonna get more opportunities. I mean, look, the financial side of development can't be ignored. I mean, the the first round guys are always gonna get more opportunities than the lower round guys. It's just like an investment in business, what you do personally when you invest in something. You're not gonna look at it the next day and go, golly, I hope I made a bunch of money. It just doesn't happen like that. So you got to give those guys time. And with the money that they put in there, the money that's going out, you you just you they get more time. I mean, they give them more time to develop, they get specialized coaching technology, I mean, nutrition doesn't mean they get anything different than anybody, but they spend a lot more time with those guys, right? And I'll just use this last draft. Akopian, first round, he's gonna get a lot of time. Sorell, a lot of time. Grahovac, a lot of time. But rightfully so. I mean, look at what the organizations think of them. I watched some of their games, you know, when it's streaming, and they're all hitting one, two, or three. So it tells you right there what they think of them and how good of players they think they can be. So, you know, being able to have more time to develop is huge. But they could also rush you like they did with Montgomery. And the the lower end of the draft, I mean, unfortunately, there's another draft coming up. There's roster limits. I mean, innings and at bats. I mean, those things are just they're they're limited as you start to get that roster because typically on most minor league teams, you might have four or five prospects. Some team might have more, but that's what it is. And they have to can the organizations have to continually decide which players are gonna get opportunities. I mean, there could be two guys with the same statistics, but then they have to look at guy's age, you know, his development, how much money did we invest in him, you know, and and how is all that working to the advantage of that player and the organization to give them more time to work with them. And that's unfortunately, that's just that's just the business side of it. And and that's what it is. I mean, you're gonna have guys feel slighted about going out, you know, ah, the coach didn't really work with me, but golly, he's working with player A over here all the time. It's kind of life, right? But that's where you really have to kind of figure it out for yourself and go, you know what? All right, I gotta get going. I gotta start busting it because there are guys that you know aren't as talented as like those top picks that still make it. I mean, there's tons of them. So it's a big deal uh where you're drafted and you know how much money they invest in you. And it's it's just important to realize that as you go through the system, so you don't get frustrated as a player that you may not be getting as much work. Because at the end of the day, it's up to you, man. Those players have to figure it out and where they can get their best work and put the extra effort in because nobody's just gonna hand it to you. And they're not gonna hand it to those top players either. They have to bust their butts too. They work hard, but they may get a little more attention. That's what I'm saying. So let's talk a little bit about you know what changes competitively in double-A. Uh, you know, as far as the pitchers, uh, as a hitter, the pitchers might show more command, might have more spin on their breaking ball, better to hide their change up. Whatever they're throwing, they can start to kind of work their pitches better. And I believe too, though, I mean, there's a lot of good coaches in A-ball, but I believe as you start getting to A and AAA, you start getting those guys that can kind of tinker with you and be like, okay, these pitchers, I can I can help this guy with this spin or this break or you know, whatever it may be. And those guys can make a difference. Now, honestly, hitting guys, yeah, I mean, okay, flip me some balls in the batting cage, but I mean, I can just go back and use an example in my big leagues. Four years, big league, four big league. I mean, I'm sorry, four big league teams. Four big league hitting coaches. I related to one, the other three, not very good. Uh, plus it was San Diego, Merv Rettenham, and Tony Gwynn was there, so that that helps a little bit. But uh, you know, I just think the hitters kind of have to figure it out on their own. They might get a tweak here and there, or they may go see, you know, who they work with at home all the time to break down film and watch it because I don't know how much time these guys have to break down film and look at them, or because you know, the minor league coaches are trying to get to the big leagues too. I mean, they're trying to get there too. So, you know, it it is about winning, but it's also about development and it's just the way it is and relationships and stuff like that for jobs and and so on and so forth. So I just think it's it's important for a hitter to realize, okay, I may have to do some stuff on my own. But there are hitting guys that are good. Don't get me wrong, they're all over the place. But I'd say kind of in my experience, hitting coaches were kind of fair to Midland. So is what it is, right? So I just think it's important to realize that. And then, you know, if you can figure that out and start to help yourself on your own, it's gonna help you more and more. Because when you go to college, you've got the coaches there, you got video, you got everything. I mean, it's almost like it's D1 is like a big league club, right? They have everything at your fingertips that you can look at and guys to break stuff down to spend the time. Minor lease, I don't know. Maybe it's changed, maybe it's better. I'm not gonna bang on it because I don't know. I'm just thinking about when I played, so I'm sure things are way better now with the technology and coaches breaking stuff down because, you know, if you know, a scout friend of mine for the Brave said adapt or die, right? So they have to adapt to things too. So I'm sure the coaches are as well. But uh, I mean, things just change when you start to get to double-A and it the competitive side of it, and it is just a situation where, you know, at the end of the day, guys have got to figure it out. They just gotta figure it out. And sometimes you gotta take it upon yourself to do that. And that's one thing that I kind of did, but I had a mixed mixed bag of good coaching and uh head coaches. Had some minor league guys that were good, but you gotta kind of do it on your own, unfortunately. Or go back to your home or your college or whatever and work with the guy that you can really relate to because you spend a lot of time with him. And I think that's sometimes is so beneficial for guys. So get to work. All right. So another thing when I talk about the hitters getting better, you know, how are they scouting the opponents? What are they what are they watching? What are they looking at? Because, you know, in big leagues, you got everything, right? You got I mean, you got all sorts of stuff, all the money's out there to spend on the best equipment, best cameras, but you know, what is it, track man and hit track. Or whatever all it is, but you can understand what a guy's throwing and look at an iPad. But in the minor leagues, I don't, we didn't have anything. You just you just talked to people, you watch people. Now I think these guys may play five or six series of games a series or four or whatever. You start to see more players more often. They're all in the same league. You're not traveling to the West Coast from the East Coast. If you're on the East Coast, you're probably staying on the East Coast, and because it's a minor league team, right? So you're playing the same people. So it's a lot easier, but it's not easy, but it's a lot easier to see the opponent, talk about it, and maybe you saw the guy in college, maybe you saw how they pitched to him in college, how we got him out. Maybe it was a catcher that faced these guys, and he has an idea because his pitcher got him out before what they hit well. It's you just kind of start to gather information because our information was watch them from the dugout, watch them from on deck, and then um learn while you're in the batter's box. A lot of times that's where you learn what to hit. And I think, you know, it was it was just very basic information. And for us, it's it's kind of, and I wish it was kind of still the same way with guys, and I'm sure it is observation, then conversation. So everybody observes, then you talk about it. You know, we would have uh hitting meetings in the big leagues before all the video, before all the Scotty reports. I remember sitting in a in a conference room or lunch room, which is a bunch of tables in San Diego and Jack Murphy Stadium, and we were sitting around and we were gonna talk about the pictures. We didn't have anything on the board or papers or anything, it's just people talking, right? And Merv Rettman would always go, Well, Tony, what do you think? We'd always refer to Tony because he's the one that first started out all the video stuff and taping it bats and the the the pictures and stuff. So I don't know. It was pretty cool that he did that. And uh he was kind of our guy that gave us guiding report. And and that's pretty much what we went with was, you know, whatever he said, that was it, you know, and you just can't overthink things in the batter's box or think too many things. I like Pud Rodriguez, seatball, hit ball, still like that theory. Um, so I think it's it's important to really watch them, not watch the iPad as much, but it is what it is. The game's evolving, you're finding more things out, you use it to your advantage. And to me, I always talk about a filter system. You put everything in that you're gonna need, that you think you're gonna need, and then whatever filters out is what you use. So the other thing I kind of talk about is, you know, when the game punches back at you, right? You've been successful this whole time, you you've done well in college, now you're at A-ball, you've done well, you move on to double A and possibly triple A, whatever it may be. You know, when the game punches back, that's when you kind of start to realize, okay, how do I, you know, what's my adjustment? How do I hit this guy? What's my approach next time? So you have to really kind of have a lot of approaches. And that's what I really liked, you know, with Tony and back in the day is guys would say, all right, when this starter, this is how you approach him, this is how you look for balls, and this is where you look for it, and this is, you know, his, you know, what his changeup does, slider, curveball, whatever it is, cutter. And you have to make those adjustments. Then you get this closer that comes in and he's throwing 99, 100 miles an hour, and you're like, uh-oh, turn and burn. So you got to be able to do both, which I've talked about before. But I just think it's uh it's important to be able to understand when you when something happens in the game, you know, it punches back at you and you're like, okay, what I got to do. And you might have to tweak some things. And a lot of that goes into, you know, failure. Because when you start to fail, it kind of tells you and the organization, what does he need to work on? Where does he need to, you know, can he handle that ball at the top of the zone that he keeps swinging through? Is he ever going to get to that pitch, right? You know, can he hit the breaking balls? What what do we got to do to make him better? And what is the failure telling us? Is it the mechanics? You know, is it the the frustration of the pitcher? How is he acting? You know, what what's the pitcher doing after a home run? Just, you know, different things like that. As you start to fail, it starts to kind of tell you, hey, you know what? I need to fix this, I need to fix that, without getting overwhelmed and processing the information and just sitting back and realizing, okay, I need to take a step back. Let's look at everything. And that's why the minor lays is so big for learning everything and figuring things out. And I think a lot of the guys and coaches, they realize that they've probably been doing it for years. Oh, let's look at this at bat. Now you don't look at one at bat and all that stuff, but you can how they pitched you and this and that. I just think you know that's that's an important time to realize and figure out how do I work at it. But you also have to know how to work at it and get those things done and what's the plan and approach. And that's really hard to do in the major leagues because you're playing, and if you're sitting there thinking about it and you're overwhelmed, guess what? Young player, you're going back to the minor leagues. So minor leagues are important for figuring things out, and I think I think it just can get you ready for the big leagues for sure, 100%. Just use it the right way. So I can remember, you know, when I was playing and I got uh sent up and sent down, and you know, it was just, I mean, I went up and I went down one time because they needed a pitcher, so I had to be down for 10 days, and you know, it was just a situation where I was frustrated because I was in like 390. I didn't have a lot of the bats, but I was hitting the ball and they they sent me down and I was upset, but I had to realize it was the business part of it, right? Paperwork to have a picture up, who was who was eligible to go down without losing them, it was me. So realizing that type of stuff uh helps to kind of put everything into perspective when somebody's moving you or this and that. It's just the ins and outs of the game. So it's just something you gotta live with. All right, a few more things that I kind of want to discuss, and uh, you know, we can make this a part series or something, but uh is the August grind. I mean, guys aren't, I mean, it kind of works in college too, right? You you these college kids as freshmen, they come in, they're used to playing their school season, which is small and short, and then you know, they may play perfect game or Arico, whatever they're doing, play with a play with a uh a team, a travel ball team, and get a lot of games in there. But the intensity level at D1 and all that stuff, yeah, it's a grind, and you can start to kind of lose your legs underneath you, arms getting tired, you're getting tired, your mental you know, capacity is blowing up. And I just think it's it's a situation where it also happens in the big leagues. It's kind of what we call it, you know, basically the August grind, right? It's near the end of the season. You've been playing this whole time, and I mean you've got to grind, especially if you haven't played that long. Your minor league season ends a month before the big league season. I think it's still the case, but you know, having that extra month of September, and it's just like, okay, August, man, I gotta grind, I gotta keep going. And so it's something mentally you have to prepare for. I know the guys are in great shape. Everybody's bigger, stronger, faster. Nutrition is really good, and I'm sure they're still working out during the season. So I'm sure they're super prepared for that. But that's just one thing that I wanted to kind of like people to understand that, you know, there is an August grind because that's season 162 games. You're traveling every day, you're not just playing, you know, Tuesday night in college and then on the weekends, right? You I think you still get Mondays off. And but after that, you're playing every day, and that's why you pray for a rain out sometimes, man. You want, please give me a rain out. I need one, need a break, but it's it's a grind. We traveling on buses, I think. Triple A we flew, but then we took the red-eye flight, 5 a.m., 6 a.m. every time. Cheaper. But uh I think riding the buses and just all the stuff that comes with it is just it's just not the big leaks where you can fly. You have to get in fly, boom, you're in the next city, you get a good night's sleep. I mean, I know I remember sometimes we would drive in on a bus and we would we would drive in at 11 a.m. in the morning and have to be at the ballpark by two. So you kind of try and sleep on the bus if you can. So it's a grind, man. It's a grind, and you know, the guys have to be mentally prepared for it. So it's it's not easy, but at the end, you know, you get to the big leagues, it's worth it. And one thing I want to add to that, you know, that says makes it worth it. When I talk about the Midland Rockhounds, you got those four Aggies playing together, they can lean on each other. You know, they're not they had Bluebell Park, they know exactly what it's like. And you don't have a lot of fans in the stands, right? There's not a lot of people, you know. I think they try to squeeze them all in the middle. So when you're seeing them streaming on, you know, on your computer or TV or whatever, it looks like it's crowded. But then when they pan out and you see all down the sidelines, it's empty. Um, you know, these guys can lean on each other because I mean you don't get isolated, but you know, at least those guys have uh guys they can relate to, relationships they have, and just a lot of things in common, just you know, being players at AM. So moving up the ladder, what does triple A represent, right? Triple A, I mean, gosh, you're knocking at the door, man. You are right there. And we've got some Aggies that are in AAA. A lot of them have been in the big leagues, they went back down, they're still kind of you know working their way around triple A. And, you know, just to just to mention them, let's see, Nolan Hoffman, Corbin Martin, Christian Roa, and Braden Schumache. All four of them have Major League Baseball experience. And that's what you'll have on rosters in AAA. You'll have the career minor leader that just loves playing and's gonna collect his paycheck and he's good, he's happy, but he may want to go into coaching. Um, and you know, or you know, could be a catcher that wants to be a bullpen catcher in the big leagues. That's a sweet job. Um, guys that have played in the major leagues that have been sent down or been released to trading teams or whatever. It it's just a different animal because you're right there, man, and you just realize you're an injury away. You're an injury away from being called up or going back to the big leagues. Now, the bad thing about that is you don't want anybody to get hurt to get you to move up, right? You know, we always had the saying, you can't make the club in the tub, right? You know, a little tub that you, you know, do cold cold plunges and stuff in, uh, or hot water, whatever it was, but can't make the club in the tub. But so you didn't want to get hurt because there's also uh you could get sent down, somebody can replace you, you could get Wally pipped, look that up. And I think it's just, you know, when you're that close, any little thing can just bump you up, you know, over. I mean, you're you're you're you're you could be a bench player, okay? I played every day in the minor leagues, every day, third base, every day, hit third, every game. I may have set out a game here and there, but then when I got to the big leagues, guess what? Utility player, bench player, pinch hitter, part-time starter. Sometimes that's it. And I had to accept that role, right? And so it's just it's something that you just have to accept and realize that once you're in triple A, what kind of player are you? If you're a younger player, like these guys that are moving up, man, sky's the limit. Just keep going, keep balling, keep doing your thing. And it's the same with the older players. But it's tougher to get motivated when you're, you know, you get sent down and you've been there for a long time. You're like, I'm never gonna go back up. Am I stuck behind somebody? But you got to go, man. You got to just stay mental and and and mentally strong to where you can just go, all right, I it's next pitch, next play. I can't control anything that happens up in the big league team. I have no idea what's gonna happen. I just have to play my game, play as hard as I can, tweak some things, try and get as better as I can, and get noticed. Make some noise, right? And that's the thing that you want to do. When you're at AAA, it's the same thing at the other levels, but at triple A, when you're that close, you want to make some noise to where it's like they have to call you up. I remember Sparky Anderson, they were talking about when they called me up, he was interviewed in Kansas City, that's where my first game was, and he they interviewed him on the bench before the game, and he said, Well, you know, Scott, we weren't sure, you know, we got a lot of players and he can play third base, and you know, we've got a lot of infielders, so he was a little bit stuck. But I mean, he's got 50-something RBIs at the break, and he's doing this and he's doing that, and he's doing well, and we just started thinking, you know what? Why do we wait till September? Why are why wait till then? Let's call him up now. They called me up in July. So he's like, let's see what he can do now. Because September, they do September call-ups where they expand the roster and you can bring people up, reward a guy for a great season, or guys that are on the 40-man roster, they can come up and join and get some experience. So that's what he was referring to about we could call him up in September, but we decided let's see what he can do. So little things like that um are a big deal. So when you're a triple A man, you are knocking at the door, and it's sweet. All right. So one thing that fans should look at or watch for, you know, don't watch one at bat to see how the guy's doing. Don't, you know, look at his, oh, you went over four, or he's he's done. It's not true, man. It's all development. It's all when you're watching these guys just pull for him. Just, yeah, you might see somebody do better, but you know, I look at the game within the game, which I tell everybody when I go to the college games or SEC games. It's like, I'm watching little things that guys are doing. I'm watching things in between innings, I'm watching the catch or throw second. You know, how many fans in the stands are really paying attention to that? It's just those little things that you look to see what guys are, you know, getting better at. And you can tell that. But you also have to kind of see them all the time. And that's why I kind of like the eye test. I'm big on the eye test, but you can't do the eye test if you're not watching them every day and play every day and stuff like that. So you got to have the mix of both with the, you know, what do the stats say? What do the metrics say? And those types of things. So as a fan, look, I challenge you to look the game within the game, right? Look at the little things that are going on, and you'll appreciate the game more, you'll appreciate the player more. I mean, yeah, you could have a guy hit 20 home runs and you're like, oh man, that guy's awesome. I love him. But you're seeing that outside part of 20 home runs. Look, look at what he did. Maybe he got a bunt down. He's a power hitter and he got a bunt down. Happens, right? So that's what I tell the fans to look for because one thing about me is when I was in triple A, we were running sprints before a game, and I had an outfielder that had been in the big leagues, and he told me as we were running, running our sprints, pregame sprints, he goes, he goes, Stoney, nickname, he goes, Stoney, if if you don't learn how to bunt, you're not gonna get to the big leagues. Plain and simple. And I was like, okay, I've been like twice in college, but but I bunted and so I practiced it and bunted, and yeah, because we had a powerful lineup of just big, strong guys, right? Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer, Mickey Tettleton, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Dan Gladden, Pete Cavilia, Lloyd Mosby. I mean, I could go on and on. They didn't need power for me. That's why I changed my swing after double A to be like, all right, I got to fix this and make it work to where I can get called up to this club. And the way I hit at Detroit may not have worked somewhere else, but when they traded me to San Diego, it worked in San Diego because I had Tony Gwynn. And so that was the sweet part of that. But um, you know, you just gotta kind of, you know, make those adjustments within the game. And I just want the fans to kind of notice that and see, guys. But if you're not at all the all the games, I test is tough. It's very tough, but I think you appreciate the game more the deeper you look in. So I want to close out with this, and I know it's probably been a little long-winded, but you know, Jace and Ali going to AA, like I said, it doesn't mean you're you're a completed player and you've arrived. It's just the development process is continuing to go, along with those other guys that are in double A, the pitchers. And, you know, there's tons of pitchers on a roster. So that's what makes it tough about a pitcher going because there's tons of those guys on the roster, right? There's like 10 or 11 and then not as many position players. So it's it's important for you know those guys to work on it, keep working, figure it out because weaknesses will be exposed. And you these guys that I know that are out there right now are super athletic, super talented, and they, you know, I've watched them for years. They can make the adjustments, and they have good hitting instructors, whether it's at home or at college, I'm sure maybe some in the minor leagues that they work with that they can connect with. But it's it's it's a big deal for these guys to get the double A because I think, man, you're starting to get close. And it doesn't mean you're guaranteed to go. You still got to do things, but I think it's a situation where the club is like saying, hey, organization is like, hey, we like you, man. Let's go. Keep pushing, keep going. Let's see what you can do. And uh I think that's pretty cool. I enjoyed my experience. Uh, I enjoyed it more in the big leagues than I did in the minor leagues, but I just think it was a it was cool to see some guys start to get elevated to double A, even though we've kind of seen it in the past. But recently, as I've done the Ball Five Clubhouse and the Ball Five podcast and these interviews with these players to see them move to the next level. That's really cool for me to say, for me to see. And I just I hope it's the same for you. So keep watching them, keep following them, because you know, and there's more coming. There's more coming through that Aggie baseball program. So keep an eye out for them. All right, folks, that's it. Appreciate you uh checking in on the Ball Five Clubhouse and watching these videos, as well as the people that are listening to it audio. So I appreciate you listening. And I've had a good time talking about the old days, and it just gets me fired up when I can talk about you know the old days and the hitting and stuff like that. And you know, like I said, it's it's just it's just fun. I mean, I I really enjoy it and I hope you enjoyed it too. So if you have any questions, comments, you know the comment section, just put them in there and and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Awesome. Uh anyway, I appreciate it. Thanks again.