There have been many unlikely contributors to the Orioles’ surprising season this year, some of whom have been released multiple times but are now having success in Baltimore.
It’s difficult to choose who has had to overcome the most roadblocks to get to the majors, but right-hander Spenser Watkins definitely receives votes.
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No offers out of an Arizona high school, he attended a junior college and then Western Oregon University. He was a 30th-round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers and spent six seasons in the minors, reaching Triple-A Toledo for 14 starts in 2019.
During the 2020 pandemic, however, he was released by the Tigers. The Orioles signed him the next January, and he made his MLB debut July 2, 2021, almost exactly a year after the Tigers let him go.
Watkins, who turns 30 later this month, posted an 8.07 ERA in 16 games (10 starts) for the Orioles last year and was released in November. He signed another minor-league contract with the team a few days later and returned to the majors in April.
Despite missing time this season after being hit in the arm by a liner in May, Watkins has appeared in 16 games (15 starts) with the Orioles in 2022 and is 4-2 with a 4.23 ERA. He doesn’t strike out or walk many batters (46/22 in 72 1/3 innings), preferring to pitch to contact, which, with a strong defense behind him, has helped keep his team in games. The Orioles are 9-6 when Watkins starts. He takes the mound Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs.
In another installment of our Q&A with Orioles players, here’s a conversation with Watkins.
Things have not been easy for you as a pro ballplayer. What has kept you going?
Something that my parents instilled in me at a young age is, “If you’re gonna do something, you’re never gonna half-ass it and you’re never gonna quit.” So, that was just kind of the tenacity piece that I’ve had my entire life. That no matter what happens and no matter what punches I (receive), I’ve gotta roll with it and keep going. For me, it was never really an option of giving up until someone told me I could no longer do it. So, I was always just pushing forward and just trying to get to the end of the tunnel eventually.
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So, what did it mean to you to finally make the majors last year?
It was a dream come true. There are still times I sit in the dugout, and I look around and I’m like, “This is surreal. I’m in the big leagues.” That feeling never has really gone away, but it was a really special moment with all those hard-fought years and all that work I put in, for it to finally come to fruition.
Your parents are still in Arizona. How often have they seen you pitch in the majors?
The last two years they’ve been out four times. They came out both times we were in L.A. last year and this year, and they’ve been out (to Camden Yards) twice.
You are from Arizona but went to college at Western Oregon. How did that come about?
I grew up in Arizona, went to high school in Arizona, went to Glendale Community College in Arizona, and then went to Western Oregon straight from there. One of the recruiting coordinators from Western Oregon went to my junior college. So, there was a connection there. And then I really didn’t have a ton of offers coming out of juco. There was another school in Georgia that was talking to me, but I felt like Western Oregon was just a good fit. And it ended up being perfect, because just down the street is Corvallis, which is Oregon State University, and then Eugene, which is the University of Oregon. So, a lot of traffic coming through there in terms of scouts, so I thought it was a good fit.
Right-hander Spenser Watkins takes the mound Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. (Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)You were drafted by the Tigers in the 30th round in 2014 and ultimately reached Triple A in 2019. But you were released in 2020. How difficult was that?
It was tough because it happened during COVID. It happened when everything was shut down. It was very unsettling because that’s all I’ve known for so long and I was at a point that no teams were calling and who knows what the season is looking like, right? So, it was very nerve-wracking in a sense of, “Who knows what the future holds?” Plenty of frustration, getting upset. The typical mourning-type stuff. But I had my wife to lean on as well as my parents and everything. And they all kept pushing me forward to keep staying in shape and keep pushing, keep going. And then luckily the Orioles came calling.
When/where did you and your wife, Brittany, meet?
My wife and I met in junior college, in 2012. We became acquaintances through friends and then Facebook friends and all that stuff for a while. And then our first date was in 2016, which I actually have tattooed here (along his finger). Sept 30, 2016. And then we got married in 2019.
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What do you do for fun or relaxation when you’re not playing or preparing for baseball?
I love hanging out with friends, just relaxing. Growing up, I grew up in the water. We would go to the lake all the time. So, I love any sort of water activities, wakeboarding, that type of stuff. On top of that, working with youth is something that I’ve found in the last four or five years is something I cherish a lot. Something that I really value is spreading the knowledge I have learned and the experiences I have gained and translating that to younger kids who are learning to love this game. Camps I can do at home, and I’ve coached the last couple years, a youth team that I have had for the last three years. So, I love doing things like that.
How do you juggle working with a youth team while playing pro ball? That can’t be easy.
It’s more frustrating for our organizational owner. Swarm Baseball is the organization in Arizona that I’ve worked with the last couple years. John Casale started it up. His son was playing years ago, and he wanted to find the right team for him, and he said, “Who better to do it than me to just start one?” So, he built it and now they have upwards of 16, 18 teams. So, I got lucky enough to start with a group when they were 14 and I’ve had them up until now. They’re 17 and they’re juniors in high school. So, the way we do it is when I get home in October, from there I have them until January, and then they start their high school seasons. So, I have those three, four months that I get to work with them twice to three times a week and then we have tournaments.
Do you work exclusively with the pitchers or the whole team?
I was essentially managing this group. This year, I’m gonna do more of a reserved role. They built a new indoor facility, so I’ll do more of the pitching coordination stuff there. And take the weekends (off) this year. Enjoy the weekends and not being on the field every weekend. So, we’ll just be concentrating on the pitching coordination stuff.
What piqued your interest in coaching in the offseason? Because a lot of players want to get away from the sport for a little while in the winters.
For me, I was a late-round draft pick, I didn’t really have the signing bonus to lean back on, so I’ve always worked in my offseasons, whether it was as a valet, a bartender, a server. I’ve done it all. I wanted to stay in baseball in the offseason and also I’ve loved working with young kids before. So, I got an opportunity with another organization that got me started managing a team. And I just really enjoyed it. I enjoyed working with the kids and I enjoyed seeing them grow. And I just wanted something a little bit different than running out on concrete chasing cars all day, so that’s worked out well.
As a youth skipper, do you take anything from the managers you’ve had in pro ball?
Absolutely. The Pirates were here (recently), and Mike Rabelo is their third-base coach. He was my manager my entire minor-league career (with the Tigers). And I got to see him (recently). The amount of stuff I’ve learned from him that I catch myself explaining to my players — pretty much everything that comes out of my mouth, I’ve heard from managers, (Brandon) Hyde, (Rabelo), all those guys that I’ve had. I try to soak in everything I can in this game, especially from people who have been around it a long time, have done it for a long time and have had a ton of success. I want to soak all that in so I can spread that knowledge as well.
Is coaching, at some level, something you may want to do in the future?
It’s something I’ve thought about. Absolutely. I don’t know, essentially, in what capacity. I don’t know if I want to take over a university program, or if I want to stay close and local (in Arizona) and just do lessons and things like that. But, yeah, it’s something I’ve looked at, for sure.
If you weren’t a pro ballplayer, what would you have done?
Probably been an engineer. I was gonna go to school as an engineer. And then they said, ‘“You’ll have physics your first year,” and I said, “No, I’m not doing that right away.”
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What else do we not know about you that doesn’t show up in your bio?
That’s a tough question. I have a very vast music knowledge. Like, most guys love rock or whatever, but anything, you name it and I love it. Guys are always coming up to me and asking, “Who is this person or group?” And I’ll try and see if I have it in my vocabulary. But I have a very vast music knowledge and I credit that to my dad.
Are you a big concertgoer?
I love going to concerts. My wife actually went to a concert (recently) and was FaceTiming me from it. So, I was able to watch it
Who performed?
Calum Scott. Incredible singer. Great voice.
Who is your go-to musical act?
Again, vast, vast genres. But Greta Van Fleet. I’m a huge fan of their music, top to bottom. Everything they do is incredible. And then going a different route, A Day to Remember, for me is like my childhood. Growing up in high school, listening to them with my buddies in the car with the windows down.
Greta Van Fleet was playing in Cincinnati at the same complex when you guys were facing the Reds. Did you think about sneaking out to see them?
I know, right? (Laughs). Actually, one time, in Columbus (Ohio) in 2018, I think, A Day to Remember was playing at a concert hall right next to the Columbus stadium. So, they were doing their warmup right as we were stretching. So, I got to listen to basically their whole set. That was really cool.
What about the clubhouse here? Anyone in particular with whom you’ve bonded?
The whole clubhouse. Everybody here is tight. There’s not a single guy that I don’t think gets along with one other guy. The starters have formed a pretty tight bond. You’ve got Dean (Kremer), Kyle (Bradish), Jordan (Lyles), all those guys. (Adley Rutschman) is fantastic. Everybody as a whole is incredible. I couldn’t be more thankful for each guy on this team.
So, what has been different for you on the mound in 2022?
Opportunity. Getting my feet wet last year and having a little more confidence. Understanding, “Hey, I belong.” And then addressing the mental side of the game as well. Because there’s so much noise outside of what we’re doing on the field, whether it’s fan perception, things like that. Or you want to be up here, you don’t want to get optioned. There’re so many extra variables that can go on in your head, so having a good, solid mental focus has made a big difference.
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How do you sum up this last year?
Incredible. Incredible. And not just from a results standpoint, but just from the experiences I’ve had, the friendships I’ve made, the places we’ve gotten to see. Those experiences that you get to share with all your friends in this clubhouse. Just the impact I’ve been able to have on other people. I would just say, “Incredible overall” would sum this up.
(Top photo: Tim Heitman / Getty Images)
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