When did you fall in love with the game? Tell me the process of when you fell in love with baseball.
Yeah, I mean, geez, I remember when I was five years old and at my grandma’s house just hitting baseballs over the house and my told my dad one day, she was like, man, you got your ballplayer right here. So I guess that’s when it all started was grandma. She was the one that kind of introduced me to the game. But when I started actually noticing I actually have a future in this game was about when I was 10 years old, 11 years old, when I started actually kind of putting some power behind the baseballs and driving him over the fence. And when I was working out with one of my old hitting coaches, do you remember was he was the one that really made me kind of fall in love with this game. He was a rocky style type of coach, and I remember RT was like a bucket filled or had APVC pipe in the bucket filled with cement, and it had a little rubber piece at the top of the PVC pipe. And just when that thing started wearing down, all you do is tape it back up. And so it just kind of made me appreciate it, appreciate the game, allowed me to fall in love with the game and fall in love with the process pretty much. So I guess that’s kind of where it all started.
So process is an important word. I think it’s something that as a coach I like to talk about a lot.
What
Was your process throughout high school and your travel ball years? What did it look like, let’s say from the time you were 13 on from a daily routine, what did it look like for you?
Yeah, let’s see. 13, let’s see, how old was I? What grade was I in? I think I was eighth.
Eighth grade. Eighth grade Seventh, eighth grade. Yeah, eighth
Yeah. So eighth grade. I think at that time I was, let’s see, I think I was working out with Mo at the time, actually. No, I was working out with you. I was working out with you at the time. Yeah, I was working out with, he started, yeah, no, I was working out with you. Mo was, before that I was working out with you and I’d go to school, I’d get finished, I forget around two 30 and then come hit with you at the time. Yeah. So that was my process. We’d get done around 4, 4 30 and then I’d work out after that.
Yeah. And then as the time got on, I went to TNXO and then that’s when I started, that’s when I think I’d finished school around, let’s see, like 11, 11 30. And then I’d go over there and then hit out, do everything and be done by two, three o’clock. And that’s when I had my free time after that. But yeah, and then in travel ball and everything like that, we would go play tons of in the summer. And then I think I started playing with Scorpions around that time, eighth grade freshman year. And then I started playing with the 2019 class when I was 14, I think 1415. And that’s actually when I started getting some notice in my game.
I think I got my first offer, I think it was eighth grade going into freshman year. Yeah, it’s crazy how early that was. I know kids nowadays are getting offers about the same time or earlier than that, so it was pretty crazy. And then that’s when it all blew up right there. As soon as I got my first offer going into freshman year, I started getting noticed from all over the place ICC schools and freshman year hit. And then I am in high school training working out every day. And then on the weekends I’d go to a different school every weekend I visited 15 different schools. You remember that? What you do. I visited 15 different schools. I wanted to get a true feel of what every school felt like. I never really had a favorite school growing up. I was very open with it, so visited all the different schools, got a feel for it, and then visited LSU and it was a huge eye-opener for me. I mean, this place is college baseball heaven, you know what I mean? It’s just the resources they have here, the development that they have here. It’s just a second home for me pretty much. And most importantly, the food here is amazing too, so I’m never going hungry here at all, dude.
I’m sure. I’m sure there’s a lot of restaurants where you don’t have to pay that bill either, so
Yeah, yeah. No, it’s good. It’s good. Everybody here loves their sports, so it’s a small world and you get noticed. I mean, and all over the place, all these restaurants you walk in and everybody knows who you are. So it is pretty cool. It is what I wanted at the end of the day. So senior year came and it was a tough time. It was like that covid year, but I didn’t have the year that I wanted to. I think people realized a lot of players and a lot of parents think that college is the worst thing ever. And in my eyes, I am telling you right now, it’s the best decision that I’ve ever had going to college. I’ve developed into a completely different player. I’ve matured at the time in high school when I was a senior, it was a lot of pressure on me as a young kid, I didn’t know how to deal with all that pressure going into the draft.
So I let the pressure of get to me and I didn’t play the way that I wanted to. I was trying to live up to this certain expectation. So it was a blessing in disguise is what I always say. So I, I take my name out of the draft and I go to college and I’m going to tell you it, it is been the best decision of my life and I’ve made some of the best relationships here, developed, like I said, into the player that I want to be leading up to the draft. And it’s just been awesome. And I got one more year left and I’m just trying to enjoy it to the best I can and hopefully win a national championship here soon.
Absolutely. Well, we’ll get into LSU baseball in a little bit here, but I want to ask you a couple more questions about your high school days. What do you think about that travel ball experience helped prepare you for LSU and for playing in the SEC? Is there anything that sticks out in your mind that really helped it so that you could come in as a freshman? Hit 360 2 with 16 doubles, 18 bombs, 42 rbis and an OPS over a thousand as a freshman in the SEC. Right. That’s unheard of, right? So what would you say prepared you best through your travel ball days and your travel ball experience to do that?
Yeah, there’s definitely one thing that sticks out to me the most, and that was me playing up. I was always a 2020 playing in the 2019 class since I was 14, 15 years old. So that transition period was very easy for me coming into college. Like I said, I always played up. So playing with these older guys, it became honestly kind of easy. It was easier for sure as far as the transition, the game didn’t speed up to me at all. I was always, like I said, always played up. So that was definitely the thing that helped me out with the transition part and kind of adjusting. So yeah, I just got here, did what I wanted to do, did what I was supposed to do, and at the end of the day, just be me. So that was, it wasn’t living up to a certain expectation, just trying to be the best me that I could be, and it was more than what I could have imagined. So it was good.
Awesome. Give me one of your favorite memories from your child all days, whether it was with the Scorpions team, USA, what was one of your favorite memories that you can think of?
Man, I got a lot of good memories in high school. I mean, those Jupiter tournaments were awesome, man. Going there and playing in front of all those scouts and the golf carts over there. That was one of the best memories of my life for sure. I mean, I remember playing under the lights there and you got golf carts lined up on both foul lines, just watching, and you got the behind the plate, tons of golf carts and got all the radar guns popping up. It was cool. It was awesome. Definitely something that I remember for the rest of my life, for sure.
Awesome. So let’s transition to LSU and where you are now. I remember the first time I saw you after it was your freshman year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the best coach. I only came up to one series. It was the super in Tennessee, and I remember getting a big hug. I remember asking you at that time, what’s the biggest difference, and I actually share this a lot. Dylan, your response was at that time, and I’d like to hear your answer now, but that time you said, I only have to swing at strikes. Right? The strike zone, the umpires were better, right? The strike zone, you could command it better, but what are two or three of the biggest adjustments, maybe both on the field and off the field that you had to make transitioning from high school to the top level of college baseball?
Yeah, I think for me it was learning how to kind of slow the game down. Nowadays it’s really sped up. The game really speeds up. So it’s really important for me to learn how to slow the game down. And that all starts with my preparation. And first of all, the on deck circle, I am up there getting my timing down, learning how to be slow and early with the guy walking up to the plate slow, just really get the thoughts down, trusting you, trusting in your process, really. Yeah, that’s really it. Just learning how to slow the game down, really. I think that’s having the new coaching staff come over here last year helped me out tremendously with that. Learning how to do breathing techniques and really just using your eyes pretty much too. That’s one of Jay’s biggest things is using your eyes and using that to your ability and learning how to get behind the baseball with your eyes. And his thing, he always says, if you can’t see the ball, you can’t hit the ball. So really learning how to, like I said, see the ball and slow the game down has been the two biggest adjustments that I’ve learned through these past few years.
That’s a really interesting thing. What are some things that you do to train yourself? Train the i’s, are there some specific drills? Are there specific things that you guys do?
Yeah, so we got colored dotted balls. We get a red, we draw a red dot on the baseball, and then we do a blue one and then a black one and the green one. And then when he throws it in, you have to call out the color that he threw. And that’s one of the drills we do. Another one I guess would be, let’s see, we do like one where it’s like there’s an L screen, you got the L screen there, and then you draw a line or you tape a line on top of the L screen and if you throw above it, it’s a strike and if you throw below the line, it’s a ball and you have to take it. So that’s something we do. Yeah, that’s really it. Really. Using your eyes is huge for him. Another thing we do is we got a sock and we put seven balls in the sock and you lay in front of the plate and when he throws it in, you have to call the number that the ball went over in the balls in the socket. So yeah, that’s another thing we do. Yeah, that’s really it. That’s something that Coach J takes a lot of pride in and it helps out us tremendously for sure.
So we talked about your routine in high school, and I was lucky enough to get off of school early and get your lift in and get some work in. How has that transformed as you’ve gone into college? I think one thing that I always knew about you is obviously a guy that got to hit with you for four or five years consistently was you were a guy that liked to take a lot of swings, right? Yeah. Is that still the same or has things changed a little bit?
Yeah, I really had to learn how to be more quality over quantity, really taking game-like approaches and swings during my BP sessions compared to just going on there and having an auto swing type deal when I’m in the batting cages. And really, like I said, using your eyes, that’s what you do in the game. You want to see what kind of pitch it is instead of knowing that this pitch is going to be there and just trying to swing at whatever. So yeah, for me, I’m trying to get game-like as possible. I’m always visualizing a pitcher on the mound and just pretending like he’s up there and getting my timing right with that guy. Or if it’s a machine, I’ll pretend like there’s another pitcher up there. So yeah, it’s, for me, I literally had to learn how to get more quality over quantity. And it doesn’t have to be a hundred swings.
It could be 50 swings, it could be 30 swings. If I’m back spinning the baseball to the back of the cage or GA to gap on the field, then I’m in the right position. I’m more of a field guy. I’m more of a field guy. Like I said, if I’m back spinning baseballs and I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and then I’m in the right position, I don’t really try and get caught up in all the numbers and everything like that on the track band or all the fancy stuff that’s coming out here.
So that’s really interesting. So tech and baseball is obviously booming now, right? It’s a big thing. And so for you, what I hear you saying is it’s about feel for you, right? You necessarily, the numbers are more of a reflection of what you’re doing than you trying to go for the numbers. Is that correct?
Yeah, so I think a lot of times when kids see those numbers, they start chasing certain numbers instead of really focusing on learning how to truly backspin a baseball or really learning how to get the right flight on a baseball and controlling your direction and path in a certain swing instead of some kids just try to swing as hard as they can and get a super high exit below. That’s not for me. Like I said, I’m more of a field guy, so I’m really just trying to really just back spin baseballs and work on my direction. A lot of the times I’ll swing a heavy bat. That’s big for me is swinging a heavy bat. And for me, if I can control that heavy bat as much as I can, then I can control my regular bat and I’ll do a bunch of things with a heavy bat direction stuff that path three quarter swings. I’m really big in angle hitting too. I’m really big in angle hitting because nowadays nothing’s straight at all. Nothing is straight, always hitting off the front hip, trying to get different angles from the right and left side, really just learning how to truly backspin baseballs from both angles. So yeah, that’s really it.
Yeah, I love it, Dale. Really, really good. Really good advice. So let’s talk about pressure and expectations, right? You were the number one ranked high school player for most of your high school career. You’re currently consensus number one, draft pick and the MLB for this year’s draft. How have you learned to deal with those pressures and the expectations? And I want to add one more thing to that, because as a person who would’ve been a first round pick if you wanted to be out of high school, withdrawing your name out of the draft, betting on yourself, and then let me read these again. As a freshman, coming into the SEC at the highest level and hitting 360 2 with 16 doubles, 18 homers and 42 rbis, and then following it up the next year, hitting 3 49 with 11 doubles and 22 home runs and 72 rbis. And I don’t think anybody is expecting you not to do the same thing this year, but how have you dealt with that pressure expectations? And again, you said you struggle with them a little bit as a high school senior. So talk about the struggle, what you learned from that and how you deal with ’em now.
Yeah, like I said, it’s not my first time around. This is definitely something that I’ve experienced and I know what’s coming and I know how to handle it now. And my senior year, I didn’t know how to handle it. There’s a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure at the time, and I was a young kid, I didn’t know how to handle it. So I went to college, learned how to mature and really grow as a ball player physically and mentally. And it’s been awesome. Even this year, there’s a lot of expectations, not just on me, but the entire team. And for me, it’s just really important just to be me at the end of the day. I think where I get in trouble or when a lot of kids get in trouble is when they try to be somebody they’re not with certain expectations here and there. So yeah, for me it’s just being me being the best leader that I can be and learning how to be, being comfortable, being uncomfortable, really. That’s a big thing for me. One of my goals this year was to lead more verbally instead of by example.
That’s a big one for you, man. That’s out of your comfort zone right there, brother.
Exactly. I was a quiet kid. I still am a little some of the time. So learning how to speak up really when things aren’t going the right way and learning how to hold each other accountable is huge for us. This year, especially a lot of guys coming in from the transfer portal, there’s a lot of egos that could get involved, so it’s really important for us to throw those egos to the side and just work together as one and hold each other accountable. So for me, it was important to earn my respect and earn my stripes is what I like to say. The past two years and now I feel like I can speak up and everybody says when I speak up, people listen. And so, because I know I’m not the guy that kind of says stuff, but once I say stuff, they tend to listen. So yeah, it’s good, man. Like I said, it’s learning how to be comfortable, being uncomfortable, trying different things. You’re going to fail a lot of the times. I mean all the time you’re going to fail. This game is very hard. So just keep going, keep trying, and just be you at the end of the day. Be me.
For all of our listeners, I want to throw this in there. We’re going to open it up for some question and answer toward the end of this. So at the bottom of your screen, there’s a button that says Q and a. You can click on that type in questions for Dylan and all the way through, if they come up in your head right now, go ahead and punch ’em in there and we’ll get to ’em towards the end of this call. So all the accolades you’ve had, team USA as a young kid, collegiate team, U-S-A-S-E-C player of the year. I could read a litany of things for me as one of your former coaches. One of the things that makes me most proud is SEC all community service team. And so tell me how you’ve earned that and tell me why that’s so important to you.
Yeah, that’s definitely probably the biggest accomplishment of my career here so far to those two. My parents always say It’s good to be a good ball player, but it’s going to take you further if you’re a better person. So I got involved in families helping families here. It’s disabled kids and people don’t understand, those kids don’t have a lot of friends, they don’t get invited to birthday parties, they don’t get invited to a lot of things. So trying to get involved in that community and building another audience, it’s awesome. It’s awesome. Me and my family, we have season tickets for families, having families for every game. We have a new family come out and sit in those seats, and it’s awesome to see the smiles on those kids’ faces. It is a lot of the times it’s their first game to ever first ever baseball game. So seeing those smiles on those kids’ faces, it’s awesome. It’s better than anything that I’ve ever done here at LSU for sure, and I’m definitely going to keep this going in the future and hopefully start my own foundation one day and we’ll see what happens. But yeah, it’s awesome. It’s a good feeling for sure.
Would you say that you started it to help other people, but it’s kind of transformed into helping you?
Yeah, yeah, definitely. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s learning how to get out of your comfort zone and build a new audience, really. It’s definitely not easy to do. It takes a lot of adjustments and just everything really. It’s tough. It’s very hard, but it’s a good feeling playing for somebody else, really. Not just playing for yourself or for your parents, playing for somebody else and knowing that there’s other people out there that are supporting you. And it’s cool to think about. And like I said, it’s cool to see those smiles on those kids’ faces every game.
So in a world of self-promotion and influencers and NIL money and all this stuff that’s out there, right? Dylan, you don’t do any social media, right? Is that correct?
Yeah, I got Instagram, I got Twitter and everything, but I don’t really post much. It’s a new world now. It’s building your network and having a good social media is important now, and that’s definitely something that I want to learn and get more involved in at the next level. But right now, at this point in my life, it’s really important for me to kind of simplify things as much as possible. And I remember me and you used to always say back in the day, less is more. So for me, keeping everything simple makes me a better ball player and the most important thing is my performance out in the field and whatever I got to do to make that the best of my ability, I’m going to do it. And that’s just to kind of simplify things, not get on social media all the time and just stick to my process and just go out and enjoy the game pretty much.
All right. I’m going to jump to some questions. We got a couple in here, and as they flow in, we’ll bounce back and forth between my questions and some that our listeners have. We’ll start with this one. What’s your favorite all time outfield drill to do? And I’ll kind of clarify that. What drill do you think really helps you the most?
Yeah, definitely live reads off the bat, no doubt, no question. It’s the most realistic. You’ll get out of outfield drills for sure. There’s all sorts of things you can do with clearing your hips, doing all that type of stuff. But for me, the best thing that helps me out to get game ready is live reads off the bat. And if you don’t have a place to do that, if you don’t have somebody to hit, you live reads off the bat like somebody throwing bp, having somebody hit for you out there, you can have somebody hit like a fungo or something at you and get some good reads going back, going in. So something really off the bat really. That’s really it for me.
Awesome. Another one, and this is a loaded question, but from a high school player, should we be doing showcases?
Oh yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, I did so many showcases in high school. Geez. Yeah, I mean I was doing a lot for sure. I mean, you remember I was, man, if I wasn’t playing a tournament, I was definitely doing a showcase. That definitely got me on the radar for sure. But I think as you get older, it’s important to definitely do showcases early in high school and then kind of simplify things as you get older. I think that’s something that I realized is learning how to simplify things as I got older and not really tire myself out and just get yourself on the radar and then ease out after that.
So that’s a good question and I’m probably embarrass you a little bit on this one, but we’ve got one that says, how old were you when you hit your gross spurt and did that make a difference in your ability to excel at hitting, was it early 68th grade or after that ninth or 10th grade? And I’ll just tell all of our listeners, feel free to go on YouTube and look up Dylan Crews recruiting video, and there’s a great video of Dylan from about seventh or eighth grade. He thought he was a catcher back then, and you guys can all see what Dylan looked like in seventh or eighth grade. But Dylan, I’ll let you answer that question. When did you hit your growth spurt and do you think it made a huge difference in you as a hitter or not?
I think I hit my growth spurt when I was probably a sophomore in high school. Maybe that’s when I, I’d say maxed out in height or something like that. And then my body actually started developing when I was about a senior in high school. But yeah, everybody’s different though at the end of the day. But yeah, if you go and look at that video, I think I was five eight, a hundred and sixty pounds, just a twig. But that goes back to the showcase part that got myself on the radar and I did little things like that to get going and get my name noticed more. But yeah, and it kind of played a role in developing, not as much the height part, but growing into my body more lifting weights, eating that definitely played a role as far as hitting more power, more for power and running better, getting more flexible. Definitely played a role for sure.
Great. Next one up, di is from John Payo. John is actually the founder and owner of one of our diamond allegiance teams, CBA baseball, you probably remember playing against them from California. Really good group. And John asked for all the high school kids that are in the audience tonight listening. What’s your weekly routine in the fall, preparing for the season with practices, classes, and then how much work do you do on your own?
Yeah, I mean we’re at it every single day. There’s really no days off. Our off days are optional, but they’re not optional. You better show up there pretty much. So no, I’ll go class in the mornings. I think I get off class around 1230.
How many hours are you taking in the fall typically?
I only have two in person and then the restaurant online, I got I think five total classes. So yeah, so I go two classes, two in persons, and then I’ll be done by 1230 and then get something to eat and then go to the field, get my, actually I’ll go lift in the morning, I’ll go lift and then go to class. So I’m lifting at like I’ll go eight, nine o’clock and then go to class to 10 30 to 1230, and then I’ll go back to eat and then go back to the field after that and do whatever I need to do as far as hitting early hitting. And then we have practice from two 30 to about five 30 and then I’ll probably go and hit after that again. But yeah, I’ll get my live reads off during our scheduled practice and then, yeah, that’s really it. I’m hitting twice a day, pretty much working out four times a week, getting live reads off the bat every other day. Yeah, and making sure, I definitely get recovery in, get some ice bass in, getting on the nx, getting some blood flow in the legs. So yeah, definitely get your recovery in for sure. It helps out the body, no doubt.
Another good one just came in the balance between academics, your social life and athletics. How have you learned to balance that? Is there anything that you do in your life that’s a routine that makes it easy for you to do that?
Yeah, that was actually kind of a struggle of mine. My freshman year. I struggled really with balancing everything as far as school and going to practice and having a good social life too, and enjoying things that I’d love to do outside of baseball, going fishing, hanging out with the friends, just really that it was a struggle of mine for sure. So what I really did was just we will slow everything down, take it one step at a time really, and learning how to write everything down. Having a planner almost writing my schedule down daily and it made things easier and it simplified everything for sure and just kind of made me go one thing at a time almost instead of piling everything all at once. So yeah, we got a mental coach here that actually helped me out with that, with learning how to write everything down and learning how to simplify things for sure.
So would you say that it’s important for you to actually schedule social time and in the position that you’re in, you’ve noticed that really help you? Do you think it helps you on the field
When
You’re balanced?
A hundred percent. Yeah. So I struggled with having a social life almost. I was always work, work, work, work, got to go in the case, got to hit, got to, got to do this, that. But it’s so important to go out and actually enjoy things with your friends, go out, hang with your friends, go fishing, go do whatever you do to get your mind off baseball. It just helps mentally. And I dunno, it’s weird how it works, but I’m telling you, it helps tremendously for sure. It’s less stress on your body and on your mind most importantly.
All right, Dale, next one is actually from one of the guys that I’m working with now. He’s a Florida commit, his name’s Braden. So he was you four or five years ago. Brandon, ask what was the hardest part of going from high school to college baseball, whether it was on or off the field?
Yeah, I mean that goes probably back to what we just covered, really learning how to balance everything. That was definitely very hard. Everything kind of came pretty easy as far as the transition period, I guess fitting in, having a routine. I guess the biggest thing was learning how to balance everything you said he is going to Florida, so it’s very important to when you go in, learn how to balance everything, learn how to go to go get your stuff done. I would definitely write some things down, makes things a lot easier. As a freshman, I was getting overwhelmed with all the stuff that was going on. A lot of things thrown at you at once and you get thrown into the fire. So it really helped me out was learning how to plan everything, schedule with times and just take everything one at a time and learning how to slow the game down and everything down pretty much. So I think that’s the biggest thing that I struggled with and I would give advice to.
So this was a follow-up question I missed a little bit earlier to the gross spurt question. They want to know how tall you are and how much you weigh now.
Yeah, so I’m six foot about 2 0 8 now, I think. Let’s see, I think hit 200 when I was a senior in high school and then freshman year I was up to two 15 and then sophomore year I got up to 2 23. I was a big dude, I was heavy and I found out my power was there, but my speed and mobility and everything was not there and I was getting tired really fast. So I really had to learn what my true body weight and what my true perfect, I guess weight and everything fit for me. So I guess 2 0 8 right now is perfect. I got the perfect speed that I want and I’m driving the ball tremendously. So yeah, six foot 2 0 8.
Beautiful. Well, I’m going to ask a couple more of my questions as more questions come in, but what are you most looking forward to this year at LSU? Obviously you guys are the number one ranked team in the country. Everybody that follows the game knows that maybe one of the most talented teams in a long time in college baseball, but what gets you the most excited about it and what do you guys need to focus on as a team, do you think, to reach your goals?
Yeah, let’s see. I mean, I’m really just looking forward to seeing how this team all comes together really. And I’m just really ready to face somebody new. Honestly, I’m tired of, I’m not really tired. I’m enjoying it day by day, but I am just ready to go and face somebody new and just see, I want to see how this team kind of handles getting punched in the mouth. Pretty much everybody’s seen it. We got a lot of expectations here and that really want to see how we react to getting punched in the mouth because that’ll tell everybody everything right there and how we react for sure. Yeah, like I said, a lot of expectations. Really looking forward to this year, man, it’s going to be a fun year. We got a good group of guys. A lot of chemistry on this team, man. Like I said, there’s a lot of guys coming in from portal, a lot of new guys, a lot of freshmen, so we got one of the best chemistry teams I’ve ever been on. That’s awesome. Yeah, chemistry’s there. Everybody’s holding each other accountable and yeah, it’s awesome, man.
So the guys are there for the right reason, huh?
Yeah, yeah, coach J definitely recruited the right guys for sure. Everybody’s their own leader in their own way. They work very hard. So yeah, it’s good.
That’s awesome. So next question up, how did your coaches do BP in high school? So that would be me pitching by someone who was throwing speed. Sorry, I’m stumbling. Essentially the question is did you like the underhand flip or the velocity and BP better? Which one do you think worked for you to become the hitter you are today more?
Yeah, so right now I don’t do any front toss straight ahead, so any front toss I’m doing is from the angle I’m always working on angle hitting. Like I said, nothing is straight nowadays. Everything’s moving left, and so working on trying to hit something from an angle and learning how to truly back spin a baseball to the big part of the field, middle way, it’s important. So yeah, so I go everything from angles as far as front toss on the T really it’s just I set things down the middle. I do some walkthrough drills, I do some back of the hip drills off the tee and then put it in different spots here and there. But I try and get game mostly game-like as possible. So having a live arm if it’s off the machine, I like to see spin a lot. I like to see sliders, I like to see get my hacks off the fastballs, but if I’m off the machine, I definitely want to see some sliders here and there.
So it sounds like a good balance of both, but when you’re doing front toss, it’s not necessarily just throwing cookies in there and seeing as far as you can hit it, right? It’s angled front toss, making sure you’re staying inside the baseball, things like that, right, though?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, anybody could hit front toss nowadays. I like challenging myself. I like to work on directional stuff, making sure my direction is right, working on making sure, like I said, everything is back spinning towards the back of the cage, no side spin, no top spins. If I get that true flight down, I know I’m in the right spot. So that’s what I try and focus on the most.
Beautiful. What accomplishment, and you’ve got a lot under belt so far. What are you most proud of?
Yeah, that goes back to what we were talking about, definitely the community service team. I think that’s a huge accomplishment for sure. I think it beats the player of the year accomplishment. Perfect game freshman of the year, all that type of stuff. Because like I said, it’s one thing to be a good baseball player, but it’s more important to be a good person. It just helps you out in the long run. That’s it. I think it’s the community service team for sure, helping out others.
That’s great. Well, I got one more for you and then we’ll let you go. We certainly appreciate your time. I know you guys starting here in about two weeks, so appreciate you taking the night tonight to spend some time with us, but I’ll leave you with this five years from now. Dylan Cruise is what?
Definitely a big leaguer for sure. If everything goes right in the way that I want it to. I definitely want to be a big leaguer in five years. No doubt if in my eyes, if I’m not a big leaguer in five years, something went wrong. So it’s got to be me at the end of the day. Just got to be me and hopefully everything will work out for itself.