Season 4 Episode 9: Nick Conte; Kansas City Royals Pitcher

[Applause] what up K how we doing people love him already he's got the Rhode Island twang the long path to more and a pin block from Martin tune in to Cam's Corner he's going to make it here cross the fou for another RH Island and one own podcast it's good off the backboard and [Music] in all right we're back guys welcome back to another episode of Cam's Corner season 4 episode 9 episode 109 we've got a very special guest today if you guys haven't been following my journey though I've been out in Missouri right now pursuing a career in sports casting I'm from rhod Island today's guest is also from Rhode Island originating in North Providence a Duke University alumni um again uh drafted into the MLB by the Kansas City Royals so in Missouri kind of like myself but with the Arizona complex League Royals right now playing rookie ball Nick KY Nick thanks so much for hopping on man yeah man appreciate you having me yeah for sure and like I said before we started recording um I love the road the Rhode Island ties whenever I get to connect with the roie guys that are doing stuff big and really putting on for the state so um I always start off my podcast asking everybody um Rod island native or not the the passion for what you do where that all stemmed from so uh class of 2024 like myself so the same age uh growing up in North Providence um just talk about playing ball there and where you grew a passion for baseball yeah um I mean I played three Sports growing up I played football basketball baseball growing up um stopped playing football at a young age and then played basketball into high school basketball into high school a little bit and then just decided like it wasn't my passion and I wanted to like pursue baseball because you know I felt that I could take it to the next level and um that's kind of where my passion Grew From you know my my older brother um you know he he was like one of my role models and following him growing up playing baseball I just grew to love it so much I was around it all the time um my dad actually he was the president of the North Providence little league for a few years when I was when I was in the little league so I was just always at the field man so I I just grew to love it so much um but yeah and then getting to high school I was able to play varsity as a freshman which is awesome and you know got exposed a lot to you know the college recruiting process at North Providence and also with my summer ball team um and then yeah just uh I was fortunate enough to you know travel around like the East Coast go down to Florida Georgia um Alabama North Carolina playing some playing some cool tournaments and get recognized by some by some schools and eventually uh the coach at Duke saw me play and loved what he saw and you know offered me an opportunity to go there and play and you know that was that was basically it yeah we'll get into all that I mean because the story is pretty cool and um I know this year yourself and two other Rhode Island um natives got drafted as well we'll get into to those guys too but um so I'm from Johnson like I told you um I think if my memory serves me right that we played uh middle school ball against each other because you went to Birchwood right yeah 100% yep yeah so we definitely battled up against each other in in uh our middle school days but um was it tough to pick from playing three sports or was baseball just like your first love I think baseball was just my first love I was always involved in it like I said like my dad was president of the little league so I was always at the field um but yeah know I mean I love playing basketball as well um I always just like I caught on quick with with sports like that and basketball and football but just didn't love playing them so I was just like I just want to pursue baseball and just get as good as I possibly can at it yeah and I remember at the time you're a pretty big name in the state as far as baseball players go and of course for your position you were a pitcher but um when did it all really hit you that you could take it to the next level because we'll get into like the co stuff and I know that your senior year was cut short in North Providence but um to be considered one of the top in the state and to have um all those eyes on you at a young age is pretty surreal especially in the smallest state in the country so um just talk about for yourself like mentally when you realize like okay I can really turn this up in Notch yeah I would say the very first opportunity where I was like oh wow like I could I could do this at the next level was I was at a Showcase in Alabama and this is actually where um the Duke Coach saw me throw um it's one of like the biggest showcases on the East Coast for Juniors going to be seniors and I pitched there pitched well but the thing was I went there as the only guy out of probably 150 guys who were uncommitted um all the other guys are all committed to you know power five schools so I went there as an uncommitted guy um and you know I I played well and got recognized by coach paard at Duke and uh after that kind of just started hearing a bunch from some pro teams uh going into my senior year which I was not expecting um and then like going up until the spring of senior year before Co happened obviously like I was talking with some teams you know had some some home visits with some professional teams you know they come and like kind of get to know your family get to know you um so that's kind of when I realized like oh I could do this at the next level like there's a chance I could get drafted out of high school um and I think if the draft wasn't shortened in 2020 because you know the draft before was used to be 40 rounds yeah when Co happened in 2020 they shortened it to five rounds so yeah so I think if that draft never got shortened I I would have had a good chance of getting drafted out of high school um and hopefully you I would have pitched a full senior year at North Providence and pitched well but you know everything happens for a reason and then uh obviously went to Duke and being surrounded by a bunch of other guys who have the same goal as you to make it to the next level definitely like it helps um it was just it was a big thing for me like being surrounded by those guys who have the same motivations as me so that was huge and then like just continued from high school to college continued to develop as a player and like hone in on like my ability and just get better and Duke was a good spot for it they got really good facilities and you know really good coaching staff so they helped me a ton too and yeah kind of from there just the goal to make to the next level yeah and I wasn't really too familiar because I mean when I was in like high school and middle school and stuff like that I obviously didn't really know what I wanted to do for a career but I always knew I love sports and knew I wanted to work around sports but um since that point when you almost got drafted in that year um I feel like ever since then like the Rhode Island scene as far as baseball players athletes in general have just like been put on the map and like just a rapid Pace like you see like last year someone like Alex Clemy went in the second round um this year with yourself two other guys in the eighth round so like that that trend of Rode Island athletes getting to the next level is like a thing and it's it's super cool to see and be a part of and um be from that state and be proud to represent Rhode Island at the professional level but um what would you say for yourself that besides obviously clocking in at like 98 um separated you from the competition um whether it was you know show again that showcase that you were at other kind of teams like aou travel teams that kind of help you put on the map how did you see like your um I guess your stock like Excel outside of you just being a player yeah yeah I think like the one main thing like you said was like the velocity like for me I I I always threw hard um even in high school like I was up to 95 in high school and I think that kind of gets you recognized off the bat like coaches Scouts they see that like oh this guy's got potential um but then on top of that is like being able to throw multiple pitches right and have them be above average pitches so like another thing that I always did well was I threw a really good slider and you know moved a lot and just like got a lot of swing and Miss on it so that was something that coaches saw and they really liked seeing out of me um but yeah honestly like the velocity is definitely like a big piece of it especially that's a young age for me like I was thrown hard that got me on the map like got me recognized and then I think that gets you recognized for college but then as you get into col College it's more so like honing in on those pitches and being able to throw all those pitches for strikes as well getting really good at that because without obviously without throwing the strikes like you're you're almost useless you know what I mean like you be able to execute those pitches in the zone and that was something that later on in my college career I kind of honed in on and got really good at um and I think that's what that's what separated me as well who were some of the coaches at that time that guided you through that to make sure that you were ready for the next level yeah I a you know I always say like it takes a village and I I worked with a bunch of different people both at Duke and then at in Rhode Island as well um pitching coach at at Duke Brady Kirk Patrick he came on my junior year so the year I got hurt um he he came to Duke and he turned that pitching staff around which was awesome to see and this this year senior year um same thing we had a really good team you know we pitched well as a staff and he did a really great job helping develop me um and then some other guys I would say from Rhode Island um John Dy he's uh so he used to be the pitching like kind of director um at hops athletic performance so that's like the gym that I go to um the guy who owns it Matt Hopkins he's a great guy uh you know he runs the gym he's a physical therapist but yeah John dery he was a great help over there he's now at uh University of Ariz IA actually as a coach over there so it's cool for him um and then another guy Rhode Island Guy Mason fioli um he's a little bit younger he was drafted by the Padres I want to say in 2020 um but he retired now and now he just strictly does coaching and he's created his job and he I've been working with him since after I got surgery my entire rehab process for the most part um and he's just been a huge help like always somebody you can just like phone call away talk to about whatever you need to talk to mechanics um you know after a game talked about what you did well what you did wrong um yeah know he's just he's a good coach as well so I'd say those three three of the main guys yeah and I'm sure those guys carried that uh that coaching to the all the way to the draft process and now into your career but um outside of coaching I always love asking athletes like they're they're role model growing up like a player that you watch growing up and um if you ever had an encounter with an athlete that kind of like was a star stroke moment for you I wouldn't say like an encounter with an athlete but I think growing up I used to love watching Dustin padro play um obviously he's not a pitcher like I I used to be a a short stop like second baseman I I played middle infield and hit and I loved watching Dustin jooy play like super gritty guy like all the hustle in the world and just really like cool to watch him play especially he you know he played for the Red Sox I'm a big Red Sox fan so awesome watching him play I I never got to meet him in person at like a Red Sox game or anything I wish I did but like I think as I've even like gotten older and grown to appreciate baseball more like I've grown to appreciate the way that guy used to play like it was just cool watching him play so yeah yeah especially coming from New England and then growing up in that those Red Sox eras in the early 2000s as a kid I mean how can you not like I mean I always say to people like I'm from Rhode Island I'm from the New England area but I'm a big New York Sports Fan so it's like um that rivalry there but it's still it's cool to see like those guys and and be able to be like okay I was able to watch that at that error like something similar like Tom Brady on how he's like the greatest player ever um in football but for yourself again backtracking a little bit you know senior year was cut short for North Providence um you weren't able to play senior year but um still had that attraction with Duke I wanted to know like that covid process um having a a school like that of that tier still be interested even without a senior year um one that decision process and two what were the other types of schools looking at you at the time yeah um I always tell guys like tell other people that ask me like the recruiting process for me was super uh it was just it was kind of slow the way it happened um I think part of that is also like coming out of Rhode Island being a small state and like not having like super high level like division one baseball like some other states do like the Florida the you know the Georgia those States but like I said before like I think I put myself on the map with the summer ball that I used to play for I used to play for teams L&M baseball they're still um summer ball team now the coach there is great but they they got us down to like those really good tournaments where you where you get recognized by Scouts and I think like at the time I was getting looked at by some other good schools like I was talking to a lot of like IV League schools because I I was super like bought into going to a really good Academic School and some other schools I'm trying to think like I think the only other ACC school that recruited me was like Virginia Tech which is a good school um Tan University was another one ston University and then a lot of local schools around Rhode Island Massachusetts Maine um but yeah I I I knew that I wanted to play like at the highest level in college baseball so it's like power five like ACC SEC that idea so yeah and then like to follow up you're asking like how Co kind of affected everything yeah like that process I mean of course it's tough but you still had all that attraction like what was that time like for you you talking about before I got to Duke or after before yeah before the whole U commitment process and everything yeah yeah okay yeah yeah so like I had committed I ended up committing before Co kind of like happened I think I committed August before my senior year um So Co wasn't really a thing yet but uh oh so you you were well into your senior year knowing that you were GNA go to Duke before the season even started okay yeah yeah I signed my like letter of intent to Duke in like no member of I forget what year 2020 I think or 2019 but yeah no my whole entire senior year you know I had been committed to Duke um but I think I still had that interest of like if I get the opportunity to play professional baseball like I'm gonna take that opportunity um because I think the earlier you can get with a team like they they value age a lot nowadays especially inal baseball and like the younger you can be like the more time you have to develop and in like the minor leagues that's what they do best is develop guys like even better than colleges do yeah so if I that was another thing that was like you know in my sight was like I wanted to you know if I got the opportunity to play professional baseball I was GNA take it so yeah yeah I knew my whole year I was going my whole senior year that I was gonna be going to Duke um but it it's still stunk obviously that it got shut down because of Co didn't have that senior senior spring to go throw and get looked at by more professional teams ideally so yeah if that senior year were to happen I mean you you probably would have had a solid chance of getting drafted right out of high school um and in your mind again with that as a possibility before covid hits and then knowing that you're going to be going to a Powerhouse school like Duke um how surreal is that feeling because um you seem like all the interviews that you've done everything the Articles I've read you seem like a very very humble guy humble athlete I mean to for me like an outsider looking in it's like oh my God if I was in that position as an athlete I don't even know where my head space would be so for yourself uh a junior and when now a senior like what's your heads space like before everything kind of happened with Co once it started yeah I mean I was just super grateful that like a school like Duke like had interest in me because like I said prior like I hadn't talked to a ton of other schools um Duke was a dream school for me so like having the opportunity to go there and and play baseball and also get the big breef from there was like like a dream come true so like I I knew that I had to be humble about it and and not you know brag about or anything like that and I've never been that way I've always been I've always been humble and like I just wanted to get the most out of the opportunity yeah and it was always pitching of course but you said you played shortstop a little bit before pitching was um your main thing but when did you make that switch and how did you make that switch Yeah so I I actually got recruited by as a two-way so I went there as a pitcher and then infielder got to campus and like I'd probably say like a month into the fall of my freshman year which is kind of when things start to ramp up in the fall because we do like a know almost it's almost have like a half season in the fall where we play like 20 30 scrimmages um inner Squad games but yeah that's when things kind of started to ramp up and I was doing both playing infield hitting and pitching and it was just like too much on my arm um I was I just had like a few setbacks with my with my elbow and decided it was time to like kind of hang it up because I knew that my future was going to be in pitching yeah so yeah was it was pretty easy decision for me obviously it sucks because that was something I've been doing my entire life and had a passion for but uh yeah no I just knew my my future live and pitching yeah did you do you have like a welcome to like outside of baseball do you have a welcome to Duke story that you can remember like getting on campus and being like wow I'm actually here trying to think [Music] um you can't think of like campus yeah if you can't think of Campus think of like baseball like that welcome to college moment type I'd say campus probably like going to my first Duke basketball game yeah yeah that was that was an awesome experience my freshman year I want to say it was like Georgia they faced Georgia State I think it was like one of the earlier games in the year but yeah it was it was still awesome awesome experience and then obviously going to games every year at games is awesome for baseball what was that like you're welcome to college baseball moment baseball yeah I'm trying to think man um I would say my my honestly like my very first um outing as a freshman um we were at Coastal Carolina it was like game three of a three- game series against them and I wasn't like too hot in the depth chart at the time like I was a freshman like not a lot of the Freshman were and uh I think I went in in like the eighth inning like Bases Loaded two outs we were up like one run I ended up getting us off the field um with a tie game which was like better than you can ask for with bases loaded and uh then they I was like oh I'm done walked in The Dugout and they were like you ready for another inning I was like oh [ __ ] all right so to go back go back out for another inning went out there like one two three inning which is cool and then they were like you want to go off for another inning I was like H all right I guess so yeah sent me out for another inning got into a little bit of trouble and then guy behind me picked me up which was awesome and we ended up winning but yeah that was an awesome awesome first like debut for me as a freshman yeah and I saw that season too you became Duke's reliever so like that was kind of like your solidified role um as a freshman you know and um obviously a huge jump from high school to college in that short of a time to be in that position is is pretty cool and um a lot goes into that and I love asking athletes too when they make that jump what that transition is like and like what the difference in everything pace of the game you know the workload all that stuff um for yourself what was that like like um and then again winning an ACC Championship too we'll talk about that game as well but um one to start off like your your mindset and how you felt things changed so rapidly from high school to college yeah I would say like you just mentioned the big thing big change from high school to college is like the pace of the game it's a lot quicker guys are a lot stronger faster pitchers throw harder hitters are a lot better um that was a big change for me definitely like trying to get used to that and then another thing that I would say is pretty big is like the mental aspect of the game I think coming out of Red Island and like being one of the one of the top guys out of there you have the confidence that like oh you're you're some of the best around but then when you get to College it's like everybody's just as good or even better than right it's like it's definitely takes getting used to and it's like you have to be able to handle the thoughts that come in your head throughout the season like you're not getting some playing time here or there like it's definitely a mental game people say it's a mental game it is and um that was something that as a freshman I wasn't prepared for and I wish I had prepared myself better for it but I think in the long run it's helped me a ton that like I was able to grow from it and now like my mental game is in a really good spot yeah and that process too again we talked about from your freshman year how things happen so fast you know become you become the reliever and you said your first outing like that really kind of put you on the map as far as the depth chart goes um what's that process of like kind of trying to climb the ranks and um really solidify your spot um I guess physically and mentally like what that did for you and and how that process came about too yeah no it's uh it's definitely tough like you're you're competing against your team which sucks obviously like you're rooting for all your teammates to to do well but you know the coaches have their their viewpoints on things and like if you're pitching well like you're going to move up the depth chart and you're going to be one of the guys but like if you have one bad outing and you don't bounce back well from it the next outing like you're gonna be way down the depth chart for weeks and it's like oh you're wondering when you're going to get that next opportunity that definitely like a tough aspect of of college baseball um yeah you just got to be able to handle like those opinions of others and the opinions of your coaches and just go out there and trust that you've put the work in Prior and you're going to go out there and succeed because you put the work in and that was something that I've I've grown to I trust more in as I've gotten older yeah for sure and obviously doing that I mean competing in an ACC Championship that's kind of like like you said Duke was your dream School the ACC champ ship is another goal and all these dreams and uh accolades they they start coming to life for yourself so um That season was a great way to welcome yourself into the system welcome yourself into the university um to cap things off with D or That season rather um talk about that championship game uh you know your mindset through it the pace of the game and and how things of course ended out when you guys won yeah so you're talking about my my freshman year because I I've got you got two ACC championships freshman year yeah freshman year freshman year so uh yeah I mean that that ACC Championship my freshman year was definitely interesting like we were on I want to say like eight game winning streak going into the ACC Championship because we had swept our last two regular season series of the year against Virginia Tech and Clemson I think um so we were like hot going into that and uh they kind of the coaching staff kind of just read just like rode like the the pitchers that were hot and I think we ended up I didn't end up pitching in the ACC tournament which you know obviously it sucks but like we were winning games so like they're not change what they're doing um I think we only used like we used our four starters in our four games and then I want to say three Bullpen arms that we used in every single game and they threw like a bunch not even sure how they handled it on their arms but uh but yeah I mean we won some nail biters there as well we got a walkoff against Miami and then uh really close game in the championship game against Tennessee State I want to say it was a one game or two to one game I think but uh yeah that was just an awesome experience like I had never been like like won like a big Championship like that in high school no state championship or anything like that for me so like that was the first like big Championship that I was a part of and it was just surreal to be a part of especially like at that stage and you know in the city of Charlotte like that was a cool cool experience yeah and you guys went back to back or was that your last season you guys won another one so yeah my freshman year we won it and then uh this year my senior year we actually won it this year as well yeah because I saw in 2023 you suffered an injury were out for the entire year um wanted to touch base on that a little bit because again kind of at like the peak the the height of your game um again working your way into the system like we talked about climbing the ranks and and really making an aim for yourself at Duke um 2023 comes and I don't know what the injury was I couldn't figure out what it was but obviously you can you can tell me that in a minute but um how it happened what it was and the set back it kind of gave you but then the bounce back and how you kind of recuperated from that yeah yeah so my sophomore year had a pretty down year like didn't pitch a ton and after that went to go play Summer Ball for the ocean state waves yep pitched really well in summer ball like I threw a lot in a short amount of time but I felt really good throughout the whole summer and then got back to campus and the fall as a junior and got like ramped up into the fall where we would start playing scrimmages and stuff like that and my elbow started bothering me so took some time off throughout the fall um got some like injections into my elbow and then that kind of brought me all the way into the spring of my junior year where I was like trying to get back into things with pitching and my elbows just just keep nagging me like it was bothering me every time I was throwing so uh got some second opinions and decided I they well not decided but doctors told me I needed surgery on my my UCL um one of the LI ligaments in my elbow and that would be the end of my junior year so decided to get that surgery done and uh kind of just use that time to prepare for my senior year and you know hopefully trying to get drafted as a senior which obviously happened so so yeah so that injury kind of took out my entire junior year but uh I think it was kind of like a blessing in disguise for me because I think if I had my junior year and I was healthy I think I would have went obviously like in thrown well and gotten drafted my junior year but like being able to come go back to Duke as a senior and then and get my degree um because if I got drafted as a junior it wouldn't have finished my degree so I was able to get my degree and also get drafted is like Best of Both Worlds so I think it was just a blessing in disguise for me I'm super I was super grateful to be able to go back and compete again for another year and obviously we won ACC Championship which was an awesome experience so yeah and of course the the recovering process was smooth coming back Senior Year you guys won a championship and um looking at some stats seven games one and0 uh struck out eight batter so your senior season you're healthy you guys win another championship um mindset knowing that you're going to clear for the draft uh after winning a championship like how fast do things happen um once senior year concludes yeah so like we got done I think after the ACC Championship we you know then you you go into the NCAA Championship where it's right right we ended up going to Norman Oklahoma for a region uh and we lost in that unfortunately but that ended I want to say like the after the first week of June and then after that um start getting invites to like professional uh professional teams workouts so I went to like one of the Giants workouts um and yeah like from there it's just I I needed to to go pitch more and get looked at a little more by some teams so I was going to workouts and then played Summer Ball for the ocean state waves again down in Wakefield Rhode Island and uh had some teams that were interested reached out to me and were like asking me when I was me throwing and they'd come watch me throw and I pitched really well this past summer for the for the waves so teams really really liked what they saw and uh the Kansas City Royals Royals were one of the teams that were most interested in me so yeah that's kind of all how it went down so each year after uh your college season concludes summer ball is like a big part of getting on the map for these these professional teams and um working the ranks correct yeah yep yeah so right like you said said senior year you're playing for the waves again working out with more and more teams um that process like after that I've always like wanted to know like is it like they invite you back for more workouts if they're obviously if they're interested and then you know kind of Draft Day are just kind of left like up in the air not knowing what's going to happen because going in the eighth round it's a little bit tougher like first second round I'm sure like they'll know like either you know they'll know but since you were a later round draft pick what is that process like what was it like for you yeah yeah normally for the workouts it's just kind of like a oneone thing like they they have workouts and they'll have them in multiple different states like the one that I went to for the Giants that one was in North Carolina but uh they have workouts all around the country um but it's usually one and done thing and then yeah I think you don't really know much unless like you said like you're a first rounder second rounder like you don't really know much up until like maybe a few days before the draft um but I had known like what teams were interested did throughout like the month of June and then going into July because they had been calling me asking me like when I was throwing to the waves because they wanted to come watch me so I had like a probably around 10 teams that were interested um and then like the top three that showed the most interest I knew that like as we got closer to the draft they reached out and they they were like hey they talked to you about money they talked to you about hey would you take x amount of money on this day um but if not like we'd be able to get you on on day three of the draft for this amount of money so they start talking like that as you get a little bit closer to the draft if you're in like the range that I was in where it's like late day two early day three of the draft um but yeah I think going into day two of the draft for me I was like I was optimistic about it but I was thinking it was going to be more like rounds 10 through 20 because that's kind of what I've heard from other teams but the Royals were the only team on day two which was rounds 3 through 10 that reached out and like I said they had a ton of interest in me so they wanted to get me as soon as possible and they had an opportunity in the eighth round so they you know they called me up right before the eighth round and told me they were gonna take me and it was awesome awesome experience yeah and when they start talking money obviously like your goal was just to get drafted was money even like an object with those teams yeah honestly like as just senior I can get into it a lot but like as a senior you have less leverage because you're a little bit older than you would be when you were a junior right but then like there's the guys who I think it's a lot about eligibility as well because say for example I was a senior with no eligibility left so like I had one more year of Eligibility because of my injury my junior year so I have a little bit of Leverage to like say like hey like if you don't give me x amount of money I can go go back to school um and play another year and get drafted next year but for guys who like don't have that extra year it's like okay you can either take this amount of money and they'll lowball you or you're not gonna be playing baseball anymore you know what I mean so that was a big piece of it but for me like having the injury that I had and then like not pitching a ton as a senior compared to some other guys that were like in that that day two like of the draft range um I was I was G to take whatever I could get honestly like I just want to start this journey like start my professional career because I know this is like this is where I'm gonna thrive in this kind of environment yeah and of course hearing your name like you said is a surreal feeling being able to finally reach that Milestone um and again like we said long behold the Royals pick you in the second the second pick of the eighth round um along with two other guys from Rhode Island Jaden V from centry and um Ryan Andrew from Middletown played at roie which is crazy too and um so one I guess to start off draft day comes you get picked run me through your emotions and like what it was like being surrounded by your family or what that that scene was like once you finally got drafted yeah no that was it was an awesome day I mean my dad took the day off from work and uh kind of just spent the day hanging out at the house like trying not to stress myself out too much but uh yeah know I was just with my mom and my dad when it happened and when I got the call and got to experience that with them which was awesome awesome experience especially being around obviously my dad like he's he's been a huge role model for me like he's one of the hardest workers I know and being able to make him proud like that was just an awesome experience and then uh rest of the day just you know had some friends come over and and celebrated which was really cool and uh yeah and then I had to get had to get out here to Arizona like two days after that which was a pretty quick turnaround but uh yeah everything kind of happened pretty quick so have you had like your welcome to the MLB moment as far as I mean obviously not playing yet but um like officially signing a contract and all that stuff what was that moment for you like okay now I'm finally here and I can do this thing yeah uh I mean signing day here was was a pretty cool experience like they set up like the major league the they have like a two separate locker rooms here in the Arizona Clubhouse they got like a major league locker room with MLB players come for spring training so they have like a a little setup in there and then you you s you go and like sign your contract with the head of um Kanas City Royals like Player Development that was a pretty cool experience and then I think also just like being around this atmosphere especially in Arizona like the baseball is like a huge thing here and uh yeah I think you're surrounded by all these guys who like their job is baseball you know what I mean um a lot of the guys here are Latin guys who come from like the Dominican Republic and like they're here and their main thing they're here scores baseball it's like this is their life and I think that's kind of like a welcome to the MLB moment I feel like being surrounded by just all these guys who live baseball yeah and what does it mean uh for the state of R Island in your perspective um I mean again we talked about the two other guys that got drafted with you in the eighth round but um to be able to put on for the state like that um kind of prefaces the whole start of the podcast like we were talking about what does that mean for the state's next generation of young athletes in your eyes yeah I mean I just want to be able to be a good role model for those younger guys and just just make R Island proud um I think that it's in a really good spot right now with with high school baseball there and hopefully it continues to grow um obviously we talked about all the other all the other Rhode Island guys who've gotten drafted this year last year and even the year before that like I think it's in a good spot and it's growing um and yeah I just want to continue to be like a good role model and um do it humbly yeah like for for myself I worked with uh Channel 12 in 2023 in the summer so I was like a intern reporter and I would follow around um Sam KNX at the time uh great guy he's awesome um but I would follow him around to all these different events and a lot of the stuff we did was was Patriots but um we covered Alex Clemy like I told you we kind of went through his whole um workout process we went through the draft process with him and I was actually um coming from my other job at the time and was like we're covering Clemy at the draft at his house can you meet us and I'm like of course so after I I go and work I come down to Clum house in Middletown yeah and um say and the other intern that he was with that took the station car was like ham we got to go to something else we got to we got to put stuff in for like the later uh PM news can you stay here and film the reaction when he gets drafted and I'm like in a house with a bunch of people that I don't know and I'm like this kid's about to get drafted into the MLB and I have the opportunity to interview him right after it happens uh get his reaction and like that whole process was amazing and it kind of put me in perspective like you guys go through so much before that happens and this kid didn't even play like he was committed to vanderbelt and didn't even play like he run out of high school um so it's it's so cool to again be from small state in the country and like yourself be able to put on like all these athletes and um really again like you said be an example for these younger generations of athletes um I think is is the coolest thing in the world but um before we close things off I did want to talk about rookie ball a little bit um so you're in Arizona right now and by the looks of it it's the Arizona complex league right the Arizona complex League Royals yes yep yeah so um one just to start off that uh process of the first few days of you being there um what it was like you know your first few days at the club and um working your way up in the system I guess so far yeah yeah I think the first few days here is kind of just getting introduced to everybody there's so many so many people here that are here to help you um and yeah we're just getting introduced to everybody gone through physicals you know exams and all that all that stuff was the first few days it was pretty slow we honestly didn't do much baseball activity in the first few days which um you know was fine but like yeah and then after that it kind of just got started where it's like we were mainly grouped into the guys who got drafted at first um just to kind of get our feet wet and also all the guys we got drafted none of them were from like the West Coast they're all East Coast guys or you know just from down south and nobody was really used to the weather out here in Arizona like first day we go out for practice at like 3 pm it's 116 degrees out and it's like they purposfully put us out there at 3M hottest time of the day yeah and went out there for like a half an hour and like practic um but yeah they're just trying to get us used to the weather out here and then we did that for about a week and a half they call it like mini draft Camp um and then after that kind of threw us into the fire and we started playing with ACL the the ACL Royals down here which is made up of you know rehab guys a lot of Latin guys who were down here and then um some younger like younger guys who were drafted in previous years like high school guys who were like 18 19 years old so yeah it's uh it's been pretty good I mean right now we're in a season where it's like we're only playing three or four games a week and there's super controlled games um it's not really like you're at like a single a double A or AAA affiliate where it's obviously it's more organized and you know it's they're competing for like postseason baseball in the minor leagues um here it's a lot more about development and getting guys better um and yeah I think I'll be here until the middle of October uh they have what's called instruction League that starts up in about two weeks which is just another name for like a A Min season where they just play games a few few days a week and it's really just all about developing guys here and I think that's a huge thing for me and then also for the other draft guys who are here as well yeah so you've been out there for like a few weeks almost a month um over a month now I wantan to say I got here I got here two days after the draft so July 16th I've been here since so little over a month yeah yeah and um to cap things off with the questions before we close things off like your biggest uh takeaway and the thing you've learned the most in only a month let me see I would say like just utilize the resources you have around you I think obviously at this level like we have so many resources like there's nutrition there's strength and conditioning there's the athletic training staff there's there's people in literally every aspect of this game that there's people around there that if you have a question like they're around the corner um and I think being able to utilize all the resources around me is huge I think it's going to make me a lot better as a baseball player and as a person yeah for sure man I'm I'm excited to see where this career takes you um you all the ups for sure I'm I'm always rooting for you always rooting for the Roy guys so um like I said throughout the whole podcast it's exciting um I I love being able to still have that Rhode Island Connection it's kind of a coincidence I was uh like a couple weeks ago I was with a few of my friends and my girl comes down here she's actually from North Providence you know her uh Maddie Liston she's amazing she um they all came down and were visiting and we went down to Arrowhead Stadium and right across Arrowhead is where the the Royals play and um to be able to walk around that and and know that uh again people from Rhode Island are representing and being in these professional environments um is super super surreal so I wish you nothing but the best of luck Nick um episode nine of season 4 uh 109 overall on Cam's one corner so keep following on all social media podcasts any uh socials you want to plug Nick for the fans watching uh yeah Instagram and2 Twitter and2 gota appreciate you Nick and keep tuning in to Camp's Corner guys we'll see you guys in the next episode [Music] oh [Music]