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Dateline: Goodyear, Arizona
Awe Spring, the season of new beginnings.
Tyler Callihan was smiling and upbeat sitting by his locker on a chilly morning that will turn into a beautiful day in Goodyear, Arizona.
The 25-year old, third round choice of the Reds in the 2019 draft had high hopes of being a major leaguer this time last year.
It didn't happen right away. He was re assigned to the minor league camp and started the campaign in Louisville.
He played in 24 games for the Reds' Triple A squad and impressed with a .303 batting average, .410 OBP and 528 slugging percentage with four doubles, two triples and four home runs. He drove in 12 runs and stole six bases in the month in Louisville.
Jeimer Candelario strained his lower lumbar and Callihan got his break, a dream come true. The rookie was called up April 30 for a double header against the St. Louis. He started the first game and entered as a defensive replacement in the second game.
Callihan broke the seal with his first big league hit on May 3 against the Washington Nationals. He singled to drive in Jake Fraley in the second inning.
The on May 5, he started the game in Atlanta. It was soon to become his last of the season, just 28 games into the season with four as a Red.
With two outs and a runner on in the third inning, left handed power hitter sliced a ball to left field off Brady Singer. Callihan went after it with all he had.
"I made a play that was similar in High A (minor leagues)," Callihan said. "But I was at third base. I had a lot less room to run as fast as I good, so I kind of made the play and was against the wall. I guess sub conciously, I thought I could do it again; make the play and turn my arm in. Obviously, I was moving faster than I thought. I went to turn my arm in and it hit against the wall, unfortunately. I was doing everything I could to make the play. I knew there was two outs and a runner on and if I dropped it they were going to score."
Callihan appeared to make the catch from manager Terry Francona's view point. He challenged the third base umpires, on-the-spot decision that it was not a catch. The runner scored and as Callihan laid in pain, Olson circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
The umpires call was upheld.
"Hind sight is 20-20. I'm glad I tried to make the play with intensity, that I did but next time, I'm going to be smarter," Callihan conceded.
Surgery was performed to repair the two broken bones in his left arm. A few weeks later, they found his wrist was torn on the same play. Callihan had a plate removed in November.
Now he's back.
"There were so many different people, who helped me. The training staff in Cincinnati, the rehab people in Arizona, the people in Louisville that took care of me and my two surgeons. I feel like I had a huge team of people. I never felt I was alone in the process. The fans and my family helping me. I felt very together with everyone," Callihan said.
There was the elation for getting the call to the big leagues, his first hit in the majors but he lost a year of development.
"It was a roller coaster, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I got to spend a lot of time with my family, There is always a silver lining. I think anything that's bad has the opposite reaction that's good," Callihan said. "I am trying to focus on that and do everything I can to prepare. I was pumped that I got my first hit in at the very least."
Now the hindsight is over the foresight begins.
"I'm doing a lot of drills now. Every day in the outfield, I'm shagging," Callihan said. "Any time the ball is in the air, I'll do some tracking drills. I look at the ball, look at the wall, look at the ball, going back and forth until I get my bearings out there. It has improved a lot from being out here for a month and taking reps."
Offensively, Callihan won't do anything differently.
"I'm trying not to do anything different. It's worked pretty well for me the last few years," Callihan said. "Right now it is just trying to get back into a groove. I didn't necessarily to really have the entire off season to work on my swing. I have to swing and feel good before I get into the nooks and crannies of it. I can work on developing my swing."
Francona plans to play him at second base and left field this spring. Callihan has played third base in the past.
The training staff had to clear Callihan at the beginning of camp and he passed the physical.
"He had been doing everything but he had to be cleared," Francona said. "I've been out here about two weeks and every week I see him do more. It is probably going to continue. I told him, that I respect the fact that, you're competing. I get it but you missed a year of development. So we need to keep an eye on him. I don't want him to back off from competing. Just let me know how you're feeling. We will limit him early on just to second and left. If we need to expand that later, we can."
When told how upbeat Callihan was, Francona responded with emphasis.
"He should be upbeat," Francona said. "He's done a really good job. I watched him hitting in lives (live BP). It was cold, windy I didn't see him holding back. . I don't know if you call them plateaus or milestones but he does something and he says o.k. I can do it. You see him get confident and then he gets back into competition, I think reps will be good for him."
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