Hi, I hope everyone had a great start to their New Year. My name is Jake Floethe and I was lucky enough to work under Coach Dan Spring over this past offseason in the spring training camps and lessons. While working in the Palos Verdes area I saw a great deal of talent.  I am excited to see the kids grow over the years as they develop as a baseball player and person in the Spring Training program.

Growing up I was blessed to be able to go through camps and lessons very similar to what Coach Spring puts on.  My father Chris was a professional baseball player in the Oakland Athletics organization, so to say the least I grew up with a baseball in my hand.  I began my baseball career playing almost every position and carried that into high school.  I believe as a kid you should play as many positions as possible, giving yourself a better opportunity to find your niche.  As a three year varsity player at Acalanes High School in Lafayette California, I played third base, shortstop, and first base as well as pitched.  I was recruited as a two way player to many great Division 1 programs. I decided on going to Fresno State.  This is when playing a lot of positions came in handy.  I did not pitch much in high school and all the other positions I played where taken from potential All Americans. I decided pitching was where I would receive the most amount of playing time and opportunity for a future in the Major League Draft.  My first season at Fresno State in 2008, we shocked the sports world and won the National Championship.  We were a four seed in the Regional which would compare to a 13 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament winning the National Championship.  After pitching out of the bullpen my freshmen year I became the number one starter my sophomore season. I fell to a season ending injury which required surgery called “Tommy John”. I decided that it would be better for my future to transfer universities. I narrowed down my schools and decided on transferring to a baseball power house in Cal State Fullerton.  My junior season I had to redshirt due to transfer rule and surgery rehab, but I was still drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 29^th round. After playing a summer in the Cape Cod summer league, I came back to Fullerton for my red shirt junior season and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 6^th round.  I played my first professional season in the New York Penn league and have been getting ready for spring training ever since.

Spring training for me is right around the corner. In this blog I will be talking about the trials and tribulations of a Minor League baseball player as well as tips and pointers for your child’s baseball career.