Draft Prospect Q&A With Mitchell Traver

I was fortunate enough to get in contact with Mitchell Traver recently.  Mitchell, a righthander from Houston Christian, capped off his summer with an appearance at Perfect Game’s All-American Classic.  He was kind enough to answer some questions for the site.  For more on Mitchell, you can check out his draft profile.

Matt Grabusky:  How old were you when you started playing baseball?

Mitchell Traver:  I started playing baseball when I was 8 years old. I played for the St. Louis Cardinals Pee Wee League team, we got last place that year losing all but one game.

MG:  At what point did you realize that you could have a future in the sport?

MT:  Well, I can honestly say I’ve always had the mindset that I can accomplish anything I set my mind too. When I was 13 years old though, I realized how big of a commitment baseball would be if I really wanted to be the absolute best I could be. So from that moment on I really started getting serious about it, trying to maximize my potential, and obviously now I am still in the process of doing that with the goal of playing in the Major Leagues and staying there as long as I possibly can. There have been times where it felt like me and my family were the only ones who believed it could be done, but thats ok, the moment I realized God gave me a gift, I set out to do the most I could with it regardless of what others had to say about it.

MG:  Can you describe the pitches in your repertoire and where you feel they are in terms of development?

MT:  I have a four seam fastball, two seam fastball, circle change, and a curveball. The four seam is my hardest pitch, although I will leave the velocity reports to the scouts rather than talking about it myself. My two seam I have always taken pride in since I was a kid and is probably my best overall pitch in terms of movement and command. I like throwing a changeup, I just havent gotten to use it as much as I’d like to but I believe in the fastball-change philosophy wholeheartedly, and plan to make my changeup as big of a weapon as it can be. As far as the curveball goes, everyone calls it a slider because of the kind of movement it has. People tell me it breaks very hard and very late, so thats a plus. But overall, my goal for this last year of high school is really to improve my command and the consistency in which I go about getting ahead in the counts and throwing strikes. There will be more fine-tuning as well as some mechanical things that will hopefully give me the velo Ive been working hard to obtain, but overall I really need to sharpen my stuff and show I can go 7 innings without walking guys and truly pitching off my fastball and throwing strikes. Its my sole focus this year, and I honestly dont feel like its a huge project, I feel like it’ll click for me pretty quick.

MG:  Who has had the most influence on your baseball career?

MT:  Its a tie. My dad and David Evans. I mean, my Dad is my best friend, period. I tell him everything and he tells me everything, he criticizes me more than anyone, but it is done strictly out of love and its easy to recognize that so it works. He breaks me down on physical, mental, and even communicative levels such as body language and the kind of energy I produce with my demeanor on the hill. David Evans really has been my guy. We actually joke that he is my sansei and I am the young grasshopper, simply because in this game to be successful continual learning is needed, and he knows much much more than I do and really gets all the credit in the development of my pitching ability thus far. He and my dad both have always been there, and always believed in me and the ability God gave me.

MG:  What has been the highlight of your baseball career to this point?

MT:  Definitely the PG All-American Classic. Its not even close. I mean, David Evans works with Jameson Taillon and Bryan Brickhouse, so I got to meet those guys and see them throw and go through their senior year and whatnot. Jamo did Aflac, and Bryan did UA, but both are incredible accomplishments. Since the moment I saw Jamo throw though, I knew he was one to set my standards on. So immediately I set my sights on Aflac right around the begining of my sophmore year, and everything I did was focusing on inching closer and closer to that goal. I was blessed by the opportunity and experience, and that was a crazy amount of adrenaline, ill never forget it. I can’t thank Perfect Game and Blue Ridge Sports enough for blessing me with that, it was just incredible.

MG:  What are your goals in baseball going forward?

MT:  The main goal is to become a Major League starter as soon as I can. If I am able to accomplish that then I want to stay there until I can’t throw a ball anymore and hopefully accomplish things like being an All-Star. But for where I am right now, its to sharpen my stuff and consistently get ahead of batters and throw strikes down in the zone. Being able to throw my secondary pitches at any time in any count, and gaining the velocity I feel I can still get by making the adjustments mechanically that need to be made and by training with a strict diet are also a big part as well.

MG:  Who are the best players, you have been on the field with?

MT:  Tough question simply because so many guys that Ive gotten the privilege to pay with are phenomenal. But I would have to say the best pitcher is Lucas Giolito, the best hitter is Joey Gallo, and the most impressive player Ive ever played with on any team is definitely Carlos Correra. That dude is so down to earth and such a great kid, and i’ll bet anything I got that he will be a big leaguer someday soon. Truly a blessing to play with all those guys.

MG:  You made your commitment to TCU, what made them your choice?

MT:  To be honest, there are alot of schools that have stellar baseball programs. Some obviously better than others, but the things that stuck out to me the most and at first kind of upset me simply because I was trying to refrain from being myopic about other schools, was the fact that as soon as I left TCU I knew it was the place for me. It’s that simple. I believe in Coach Schloss, Coach Vitello, and Coach Mazey. I believe in the team values TCU has to offer, I believe in the support the program gets and what the school has to offer. And in the end, I truly believed and knew TCU was the perfect school for me, and it just so happened to have an incredible baseball program as well, and Im truly thankful for that.

MG:  I understand that you have done quite a bit of charity work.  What are some of the things that you have done for charity and what led you to start giving back?

MT:  Well first off, I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, I am called to love and called to serve just as Jesus did, without expecting anything back. And even since I was a little kid, my parents, teachers, and even coaches always told me there was one thing that stuck out and it was that I had a tender heart for people, and had compassion for people. So the opportunities I’ve had to give back honestly have been more of a blessing to me and my life than me being one to theirs ironically. Ive gone to Jamaica twice with my school, both times for a week, and we go into the slums and preach the Word of God while loving on anyone. Whether that’s walking around praying for anyone that needs it, or playing soccer with the village teenagers and adults, or playing tag with the little kids and buying them all popsicles, or passing out flyers to come to church and then giving your testimony that night in front of the whole village, its all done for God’s Glory. I have been blessed by those experiences, and I will never forget them. There is always someone to help, someone to love, and someone to befriend. ”In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

MG:  You are open with your religion, do you ever have difficulty combining that with the world of sports?

MT:  Honestly, not at all. Its quite the opposite really! I recognize that God gave me this gift for a specific purpose, and I did nothing to earn the gift, He just simply gave it to me. So in reality, it only seems right to Give it all back to him, and Work as if Im working for the glory of God, not men. So in the World of sports, Christ is my strength. He is the reason I work as hard as I do and why I’ve come to love the game of baseball so much. Without Christ, I wouldnt be where I am now with the game of baseball, not even close. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24.

MG:  If baseball ended tomorrow, you would?

MT:  Be crushed. I love this game so much, and believe God gave me this gift to play at the highest possible level. So if it was suddenly taken away, it would definitely rock my world. However, I know God would have something else in store that would still use me best to bring glory and honor to His Kingdom. “For I know the plans I have for you,’ Declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

MG:  What is something about Mitchell Traver that most baseball fans would be surprised to find out?

MT:  I am one level away from being fluent in American Sign Language! Yes, I do enjoy talking to the Deaf Community, they really are just like everyone else, they just cant hear.

Thanks to Mitchell for taking the time to answer questions for the site and our readers.  I really appreciate it.