Daniel Robert had waited a long time for this moment.
He’s twenty-nine. Two years ago, he was still toiling away in High-A, surrounded by teenagers and guys in their early twenties, chasing their dreams.
A twenty-seven-year-old in High-A is usually chasing delusions. Or he’s the hotdog guy.
But Robert never quit. The Rangers drafted him in the twenty-first round in 2017, out of Auburn University as a pitcher. He had thrown a total of 15.2 innings in college. He was mostly a first baseman or outfielder. But the Rangers wanted him to pitch.
He had elbow soreness. But since he considered himself a position player, he never got an MRI. So, he reports to the Rangers facility in Surprise, Arizona, and, surprise, he needs Tommy John surgery.
He rehabbed, and got back on the mound in 2019. Really, it wasn’t until then that he started pitching. Did he ever. In 2019, his ERA was 0.99 in Single-A. COVID wiped out 2020. And he was hit by a line drive in 2021, breaking his arm.
In 2022, pitching at Round Rock, his ERA was 6.25, and in 2023 it was 4.40. Still, he kept going.
This year at Triple-A Round Rock, Robert started to figure it out. He lowered his ERA to 2.35, and opponents were hitting just .132 against him.
Earlier this week, he got the call he’s been waiting his life for, the call he’s been waiting much longer than others wait for, the call he never thought would come all those times he contemplated retirement. He was finally going to the big leagues.
Last night, in the Robert got the other call he’s been waiting seemingly forever for. The call to the bullpen. Then, in the seventh inning, the call from Bruce Bochy to enter the game.
He pitched to four batters in the seventh, giving up a single. In the eighth, he retired the first hitter, walked a batter, got a second out, then allowed a home run. His night was done.
But after all those years toiling away in the minors, being turned into a pitcher, having Tommy John then a broken arm, Daniel Robert lived out his dream.
It’s not the stuff to make a Hollywood story like “The Rookie.” But it’s a really nice story. After all those years, Daniel Robert is a major leaguer. A twenty-nine-year-old rookie. And nobody can ever take that away from him.
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