Former Bellingham High baseball star Austin Shenton talks about his new life in the majors
Austin Shenton has spent a disproportionate quantity of his time within the corners of the continental U.S. The Tampa Bay Rays infielder starred at Bellingham Excessive Faculty, earlier than shifting to the Sunshine State to play school baseball at Florida Worldwide College, and returning to Washington when he was drafted into the Seattle Mariners farm system in 2019.
“Regardless of how laborious I attempt, Florida retains sucking me again in,” Shenton mentioned in a video name with the Bellingham Herald.
Shenton, who fittingly performs each nook infield positions, turned the one present Main League Baseball participant from Bellingham when he made the Rays’ opening day roster final month. After being despatched to the minors just a few weeks earlier, Shenton was on the Rays’ stadium, Tropicana Area, when supervisor Kevin Money referred to as him to his workplace for a gathering.
“He lower proper to the chase,” Shenton mentioned. “He was identical to, ‘Hey man, I’m not gonna attempt to play this one out. Congratulations, you made the opening day roster.’”
Then the Rays’ eighth-ranked prospect, Shenton made his large league debut days later, changing first baseman Yandy Díaz late in a 9-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s humorous, as a result of I’ve undoubtedly been extra nervous since – simply sure video games you get a little bit nervy,” Shenton mentioned. “That first sport, my adrenaline simply kicked in and it was a kind of moments the place you’re simply so hyper-focused and so locked in that the nerves didn’t really feel as unhealthy.”
Shenton lined out to left area in his solely plate look that day. However since then, he’s began three video games and appeared off the bench in a fourth, amassing three hits, scoring two runs, and batting in a single runner within the course of.
Shenton, who’s starred at practically each degree of his profession up till this level, mentioned he’s nonetheless getting used to not being an on a regular basis participant.
“It’s the primary time in your profession you don’t actually play on daily basis,” Shenton mentioned. “So you need to make the adjustment to nonetheless get in all of your work, nonetheless be prepared each time you may, and simply benefit from these moments that you simply get to play.”
Although he’s not enjoying each sport, Shenton mentioned he’s nonetheless adjusting to the grueling main league schedule.
“All the things that comes together with being a serious league participant is rather a lot,” Shenton mentioned. “Our first highway journey, we went to Colorado. So we go to Colorado, the altitude, we received three video games there. Then after the sport, we fly to L.A. after which play three video games, no day in between… After that sequence in L.A. we received on a flight, 5 hours to return to Saint [Petersburg], switching three time zones. After which now we have an off day, however we received again at 2, 3 within the morning.”
Shenton’s path to the professionals
For a participant who was first drafted out of highschool, Shenton’s path to the majors has been lower than easy. At age two, he was put into foster care, earlier than being adopted by his delivery aunt and uncle.
“They took me in and so they simply gave us a chance to be quote-end-quote ‘regular youngsters,’” Shenton mentioned. “We had been at all times going from sport to sport, sport to sport rising up, it was numerous that. It was numerous time within the automobile with my dad and mom and household, and going to video games and whatnot.”
He changed into a star participant at Bellingham Excessive, the place he hit for a .472 common his senior yr. The spotlight of his time there, although, wasn’t any explicit on-field accomplishment.
“I received to play with numerous my pals that I grew up with,” Shenton mentioned. “We might play tennis baseball at Broadway Park, the place all of us grew up by. So simply with the ability to do this, and rising up after which we’re enjoying varsity baseball collectively.”
Bellingham shortstop Austin Shenton, proper, fields a throw as Ferndale’s Kyler Brudwick (5) slides into second Monday, March, 30.
He had initially dedicated to play his school ball on the College of Washington, however reconsidered after he was drafted by Cleveland within the thirty fourth spherical of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Whereas he didn’t flip professional straight away, Shenton decommitted from UW to play at Bellevue Faculty, since MLB guidelines permit junior school gamers to retain their draft eligibility.
From Bellevue, he transferred to Florida Worldwide College, the place a former coach of his had taken a job as an assistant.
“I texted him and I used to be like, ‘Hey man, do you want a left-handed hitting third baseman?’ – simply form of messing with him as a result of that’s the connection we had,” Shenton mentioned. “After which he was like, ‘Really, we do.’”
After incomes second-team all-conference honors in every of his two seasons with Florida Worldwide, Shenton was drafted by the Mariners within the fifth spherical of the 2019 MLB Draft.
However Florida got here calling as soon as once more, and he was traded to the Rays in the course of the 2021 season. For all of the occasions he’s moved as far-off from his hometown as potential, Shenton considers himself a northwesterner by and thru.
“I really like the northwest. I really like Bellingham. It’s every thing I would like,” Shenton mentioned. “Being away from dwelling might be the toughest a part of what I do.”
