May 18, 2022 • 40 mins
Matt Leon showed up to Seton Hall's campus in the Fall of 2014 with no guarantee he'd even end up on the baseball team. To eventually become a UNANIMOUS 1st Team All-Big East player his senior year as a closer, where he holds the Seton Hall single-season saves record with 12 .... to then signing a contract with the LA Angels.
Matt's walk-on story entails:
- How he tried out for consecutive months leading up to the season
- When he found out he made the team
- His battle to be put on scholarship
- Feeling guilty about inquiring for the scholarship that he knew he had earned
- What changed for him his senior year that helped him be so dominant on the mound
- Signing with the Angels in 2018 & where he's at with his pro career right now
Matt and Noah also talk about:
what he'd change about the MLB.....what aspiring MLB players do as side jobs to sustain living expenses.....working on his velocity.....his perspective on the journey overall.....and BETTING ON HIMSELF!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Walkie Talkies is a presentation of I Heart Radio and
the College Athletes Network. Hey Yeah, what's up, walk you
(00:25):
talk He's Welcome back to episode six of Walkie Talkies
podcast on the College Athletes Network, featured on I Heart
Radio with the coolest walking on the country. I'm your host,
Noah Bono. And if you can't already tell I lost
my voice, why because I graduated college and I was
having a great time. And no the interview, I did
not lose my voice, So you don't have to worry
about listening to this raspy, old sounded man voice the
(00:45):
whole time. Um Anyway, today's episode features a former Seaton
Hall baseball walk on turned scholarship player and was a
unanimous first team All Biggie selection his senior year. A
Pennsylvania native, Matt Leon. And instead of giving my long
preview of every episode, I do want to just briefly
talk about what you can expect to hear from Matt
and I his conversation today. Matt started his career showing
(01:06):
up to Seaton Hall his freshman year with no guarantee
of a spot on the team, to ending up signing
a contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It's pretty crazy.
The first half of the episode, Matt breaks down his
entire walk on journey, which included how he tried out
for the first months of his freshman year leading up
to the season, and then when he found out he
made the team. Talks about his battles of being put
on scholarship and how he felt guilty about enquiring for
(01:28):
that scholarship that he felt he rightfully earned. Uh. Then
he goes into what he changed for him his senior
year that really helped him have such a dominant year
as a closer, and then we get into signing with
the Angels and where he's at currently with his pro career,
and if you stay through the whole conversation, hit Matt
with some quick hitters that I thought brought out just
as good conversation for the listeners. Very candid, very open
from Matt on his battle with working extra jobs and
(01:51):
waking up super early so he can make his money,
pay his bills, but also focus on his baseball career.
U super cool stuff, super inspiring stuff from Matt that
I think re listener will really enjoy. And I'm not
gonna spoil anything else. You'll have to listen through it
to hear it all. So lastly, before I bring in Matt,
please make sure you subscribe to Walkie Talkies podcast so
you don't miss any episodes. And as always, please start
the show and leave it a review. It really helps
(02:13):
the show become found by other people who may also
be interested. So I thank you in advance. And when
that being said, let's bring in my guest, former Seaton
Hall baseball walk on Matt Leon. What's up man? How
are you? Can you hear me? Yeah? Bro, thanks for
(02:34):
coming on. I appreciate it. So from the jump, we'll
start with how the walk on opportunity at Seton Hall
for the baseball team came about for you? How did
that try outcome about? Any connection help me get your
foot in the door? What was that process like? So
really like in high school, I really wasn't like a
I wasn't really sought after. I didn't really have any recruiting.
(02:54):
Our school is kind of coming after me. I really
only talked to maybe like three schools totals one or
two Division three schools. And then I had a coach
in high school had played at Seton Hall like he was.
He was pretty young at the time too, so he
was always he was a family friend and uh, I
was having a pretty good year, so he reached out
(03:14):
for me. UM, and then we kind of got to
talk and through that, UM they came out and saw
me pitch once. I pitched pretty well, and then um
they came out again. I really I really didn't have
anything good to show him, so talking kind of stopped there.
But they pretty much told me like, we don't we
don't think you're gonna be able to play here. Um.
(03:35):
So that was pretty deflating because like one of the
you're only talking to a handful of schools to to
hear that's not very good. So um, that kind of happened.
I had taken a visit there with them, like an
unofficial visit, and then, like I said, the second time
they saw me, it didn't really work out. So it
kind of just stopped communication went back. Was finishing high
(03:56):
school and then UM graduated and still had no idea
where I was going to school. So I actually was
going to go out to pit and just be a
student and hang it up because in my mind I
had only I only really wanted to play either Division
one baseball. I really didn't want to play. Looking back,
it's kind of like a stubborn thing to say, because
having played professionally, you play with kids from junior college,
(04:19):
you know, it doesn't really matter. But um yeah. So
I then went away on a trip and everyone was
asking me what I was gonna do, and I just
decided that, you know what, I'm gonna call seat in
the hall and let him know him showing up. So
that was the first step, just tell him I'm going
to show up as a student. And then I just
wanted to some type of tryout a thing. So you
(04:39):
showed up there with no guarantee that you'd get on
the team or even get a try out. Nothing. No,
I mean they said, listen, we'll give you any shot
that anyone else that will give anyone else. So I
had no My plan was My plan was like try
out whatever it took. The baseball fall is it's basically
(05:00):
you play a fall season, you know, against yourself. So
you play, you know, workouts, all that stuff, so they
can have you. You don't have to declare your roster
until you know, pretty like just before the season, so
you can work out with the team as long as
they feel like, you know, we don't know yet. Oh
you can voluntarily like choose I'm gonna work out with
the team in the fall and they'll let you come around. Yeah,
(05:21):
unless you know, unless you don't have what it takes,
then they can just cut you right there. But if
they you know, so it could be like, uh, it
could take you know, months. It's it's not necessarily just
like a try out you know that you'd see in
movies or anything like that. It's really just the like
the extent of how long the off season is, so
that that that ongoing fall was kind of like your
(05:44):
try out over those course of the months. And then
at what point did they tell Did they say to
you like, Okay, we're gonna We're gonna put you on
the roster. Uh So actually I didn't find out until
two days before opening day, so it starts Spember August.
I didn't find out. Our first game was February maybe fifteen,
(06:05):
So I didn't find out until February. Liket. It was ridiculous.
So it was like I had talked with them, and
I'd go in every weekend bother them. I'd be like, Hey,
what's the deal. Do we have a spot? Do we
have it? And uh a couple of times, like Thanksgiving break,
like before I went home, I wanted to have an
idea and they were like, we don't have anything, so
like if you want, we can help you look for
(06:25):
other schools to go to. And I was like, Nina,
that's all right. Same thing Winner Break. I'm like, hey,
what's the deal? And I listen. We don't want to
like keep you here and then you can't play in
the spring, like if something doesn't work out, and I
was like, no, it's all right, just just let me
know when something does so. And then two days before
the opening series, I kind of I found out why
(06:46):
are we show Adamant on Seaton Hall, Like if they're
saying they'll help you get to another school maybe or
you know, obviously probably could have played at a lower level.
What was the well, why was it feeling so strong
to just do it there? Well? I was already there,
so like I went there. Those conversations didn't happen until,
like I said, the holiday break. So you're there about
three or four months, you're already taking classes. Like these
(07:09):
guys on the team, they're like they're your best friends,
Like you're in their minds. They don't know you know,
they knew I was a walk on, but they you know,
we're just buddies. So those are your friends now. It's
like and that was one of my biggest concerns, was like,
if I don't make this team, are they gonna like,
am I still gonna be? Like? Are we gonna still
hang out? Like? Am I gonna go over to the
baseball house? Is that gonna be? How's that gonna work?
So that was one of my my things. But I
(07:32):
was there. My initial plan was, you know, try to
try to get a spot um and like in my mind,
like I knew somehow it would work out. But and
then if I didn't, if I didn't make the team
my freshman year was I'll give it another shot sophomore
year and then from there I'll make a decision whether
that's where I want to be or you know, So
(07:53):
when you ended up getting on the team, I mean
your freshman year as a walk on, you pitched in
six sixteen different games and you still and four of
them you're a relief pitcher for the other twelve. How
does that come about? Like what is your role as
a walk on on the baseball team? Like you don't
get it's just so weird to me. You don't get
picked for the team two days before the first game,
(08:13):
you playing sixteen games, so it's like you're clearly pretty
involved and you were on it. You're obviously needed in
some regards, So what's your role on a as a
walk on a baseball team like that? So I think
it's different than a lot of like like than football
or basketball, considering like those sports, there's just like you're
on you other a full rider or a walk on. Right, baseball,
(08:35):
there's only eleven point seven scholarships total, so there's thirty
five guys on the team. So half these guys are
only on the minimum. So some of these guys you
know they're they're on. There's only a handful of maybe
scholarship guys, so you know, it's not as much of
a factor. I don't believe like in like, uh that
(08:59):
type of regard, but like going and I pitched in
the opening series that we had uh like at a
U n C. So like I pitched, but I was
we were getting blown out and it was like a
game where there's like at what started the bottom, So
they threw me in and I like I had some success.
So I think it was kind of just the thing
I showed them, like, I'm like, I can pitch here.
(09:20):
So kind of just rolled from there and you know,
whatever they needed, whether it was like garbage time, the
game didn't matter, you know, just any type of way
to get in the door. It's interesting because there is
a I guess a difference from a baseball walk on
to basketball and football. Like, like you said, there's the
eleven point seven eleven and a half scholarships. Um so
(09:40):
I guess a lot of times, maybe half close to
half your team has to be somewhat a walk on.
Like I don't know if every how can they get
divvy up of a scholarship to thirty five guys. So
in some capacity there's probably a decent amount of walk
ons on your team. Yeah, so my freshman year, I
think there were maybe I would assume like in my
(10:02):
freshman class there was probably two or three of us.
Now there's a difference. You could be told like, hey,
we have a spot for you, we just can't give
you any money. Now, I guess that would be considered
a walk on as well. So like that that their
situations might have been slightly different than just kind of
showing up and trying to make the team. But yeah,
there's a lot of Like in baseball, there's half the
(10:22):
guys that you see on a team like that are contributing,
might have only you know, a quarter of an athletic
scholarship board or nothing. You know, like it's it kind
of once you're in the door, it doesn't really it's
it's it doesn't really matter what you're making, like what
they're paying you to be there, it's whether you can contribute, right,
you know, that's the same thing in basketball. Okay, well, okay,
talk his quick break coming up. Stay put to here
(10:43):
Matt talk all about his three year climb to an eventional, dominant,
and historic senior season. This is Walkie Talking Podcast and
I'm your host now Albano. Stay put, folks will be
right back and we're back. This is Walkie Talkie podcast
on the College Athletes Network, featured on I Heart Radio,
and I'm your host, now, what bono. Please make sure
you are subscribed, otherwise the remainder of this audio will
(11:04):
be able to reset all of the settings in your
phone and break all of your audio outputs for every
app you try to listen to something on ah L
O L No, not really, I'm just kidding. All right,
all right, I'm done. Let's bring back in my guest,
former Seaton Hall baseball walk on, Matt Leon. So, like,
for a baseball walk on, how common is it is there?
(11:26):
Let me rephrase this a little bit better. Is there
a difference from like the way you're treated from being
a walk on or being a scholarship player? It doesn't
seem like maybe there will be because of kind of
what you just said, but there's always that well, he
is a walk on. But like you, I mean, you
did say in the beginning about how like they were
all your friends and they didn't even really know you
were are you? They knew you were walk on, but
(11:47):
they didn't really know like he might not be on
the team, that sort of thing. Yeah, it's it's like
for me when I was having shown up and really
no one even knew, like I wasn't a part of
the official visits. That wasn't you know, they're early for
practice and stuff like that. I think it was a
little bit different. They were, um kind of just like
(12:07):
wondering who, Like who's this guy? What's this guy doing?
Like he's he's in our class? You know that type
of thing. But you know, like once you're once you're
there and like you're you know you're having morning lifts
at five am. You're there. You know you're doing practice.
Like once you're going through the grind with everyone, you know,
everyone starts respecting each other rights. If you're willing to
go through what I'm willing to go through, it's like
you should you know, you respect people that work hard.
(12:29):
At least that's how I am. I someone I works hard,
like they have my respect no matter what, no doubt.
Um So in your four years, were ever put on
a scholarship? Like were you ever given to partial maybe
a little bit more during those four years or where
we were walk on the whole way through um So
it was that was like one of the things that
kind of had like a battle with throughout the with
(12:50):
um you know, administration and like the staff. But I
did my senior year. I ended up being on a
full ride. So that was, yeah, that was nice, Uh
come but come my last year to kind of help.
But like once I had contributed my first two years
or like you know, my first year, I I kind
of brought up those conversations occasionally and you kind of
feel guilty doing it, to be honest, like asking for
(13:11):
something that you feel like you deserve, but it just
kind of so I always felt a little guilty doing that,
like you'd rather have them just come to you with it, like, yo,
you earned this kind of thing instead of like, hey,
like did I earn this yet? In your from your
perspective exactly, Like like like asking for a raise, Like
for some reason, everyone feels awkward asking for a raise
even though you know on paper, you know I did this.
(13:34):
I did this, So it's it's one of those things
where I always felt guilty asking um for that. But
I but I wanted to like feel like, hey, you
guys want me here as bad as I want to
be here. So for three years, you were kind of
paying your own way. Yeah, uh Now I was getting
like academic money, academic scholarship money, which was which really
(13:56):
helped because I wouldn't have been able to go there,
you know, just because but it was nice to finally
like get what what I've I had felt like I
had earned throughout those three years. That that last year,
and and it's tough because, like like I said, there
was only eleven like an eleven and a half scholarships,
and if they're guaranteeing that money to someone coming in,
(14:17):
then they can't really give that to someone who's already
in the door. So what did what do you think
you showed those first three years and that slow progression
up the ladder? What do you think you showed that
your senior year? They were like, you know what of
the eleven point seven scholarships, we're gonna give you one
full one, Like we'rena give you out of thirty five
people an entire four one And you were just a
(14:37):
closer your senior year, Like you pitched in you pitched
thirty innings. So like that's a big investment on I mean,
not that the closes, there's obviously very important. I used
to play baseball, I watch baseball, so I know that,
but like in terms of college baseball, like that's a
big bet for them. So good reward for you, but
a big bet for that that come about. So like
(14:59):
I'm not sure if it was like it wasn't like
officially of one full athletic scholarship, because it was kind
of just supplementing whatever I had from my academic you
know what I mean, So the rest of what I
had gotten Um, so I don't know exactly what it was,
but uh yeah, I don't know. I mean I think
they just realized, like I mean, just the way that
(15:20):
I went about my business like I was. You know,
I was always there late, whether there was something I
could work on or you know with the younger guys,
I was just a position where being there for the
reason contributing I guess, throwing a lot of innings or appearances, um,
being around like what it in, figuring out what it
takes to like win, you know, the whole goal was
to win a championship, Big East Championship, like we felt short.
(15:40):
I guess just just like them seeing that I was
the type of person that you know, could grab the
guy behind me and kind of bring me along. Um,
I don't know, That's what I always thought. I always thought,
Like for me, it comes down to just work ethic,
like whether or not, like are you doing enough to
like go home and not think like, oh man, what
should I have done it there? Like or being a
little bit like I'm a very guilty person, like if
(16:01):
I miss a rep or a set or something like that,
like that sticks with me. So that's just the way
I've always carried myself, and I don't know, maybe they
maybe they saw that, you know, that's that's what i'd
like to think. You know, they probably did. I mean,
you know, it gave you what you ultimately deserved that
senior year. You were a unanimous selection to the All
Big East team in two thousand eighteen as a closer
at one point one seventy r a thirty four strikeouts
(16:24):
and like I said, thirty innings pitched and I think
you set a Seaton Hall record twelve saves if I
read that correctly. So just talk about that climb first, second,
third year to ultimately get to that dominant point in
your senior season. It was, it was It was kind
of strange, but like I called, like come the fall
time and that year, like you know, you know, the
off seasons are grind like every day. You know, for
(16:47):
you it's a little different because you guys, off season
is after your season, which is you know, you have
a whole year to look forward to it. Our whole
off season leads up to our season, so it's kind
of just like this big long preparation for your season.
But um, it kind of gets them mundane. And like
I remember going into our head coach's office at one
point and literally saying like, man, I'm just I've just
been like trying to enjoy these practices, like I've been
(17:08):
having a lot more fun, Like I've been actually enjoying
showing up because I was really realizing, like my time
in college baseball is coming to an act. So it's
just like starting to really like enjoy that actual, like
daily thing. And part of that really I think propelled me,
uh that seniors just like enjoying the stuff that you know,
you kind of get bored with or you know, you
(17:29):
kind of get frustrated with, kind of learning to appreciate
the everyday routine of like like I'm asking, You're asking
to be there, you know, like this is what comes
with it, this monotonous grind. And then you find I'm
kind of at the same point now where I'm like,
I mean, I've been at it for so damn long.
If I don't just start enjoying this in some capacity,
like I'll never be happy. So you know, I think
(17:50):
I think that's what hits you as your last year
of being in college of like, well, this is my
last year of college athletic college baseball, college basketball, like
I want to get everything I can out of this. Yeah,
it's you feel because like people come back. You know
how many alumni come back or your teammates that you had,
and they're like doing it goes so fast. It goes
so fast you don't realize it until you're a senior. Like, wow,
I'm a senior year, like I should start enjoying this stuff.
(18:11):
And and part of that just like I started really
enjoying like the practices of baseball, just like the little thing.
So it made it so much more, like so much
more fun for me. And then playing the game was
just like that's the easy part, right, Like if you
enjoyed practice, you're getting better now, like the game's finally here.
It's just one of those things where I just wanted
to Part of it was also I didn't have any
(18:32):
like looks at for pro ball, Like I wasn't talking
to really any scouts before that year or anything like that.
So I had like a little bit of like a
chip on my shoulder and I was like just like
just watch, like you know, I'll be just keep that
type of ideas. So that kind of had a chip
on my shoulder going into that year. So that was
My next question is that senior season helped propel you
(18:53):
into talks and an eventual contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
I guess you were in their farm system or their
rookie league miners. Um. Just talk about that journey thus
far where you're currently at with your professional career. Yeah, So,
I uh had signed with them just after the draft.
I went undrafted. So I signed a free agent deal
(19:13):
right after my senior year, um, and then flew out there,
played two eighteen season, two nineteen season with them, and
then went down there for spring training, and then COVID happened,
so they sent everyone home and they canceled the year,
and then I got released during that time. So I'm
not with the Angels anymore. I'm a free agent. But
(19:36):
um yeah, that's like one of the hardest things to hear, right,
is someone telling you like that you're you know, you're
not good enough anymore. So um, but yeah, right after
that point, I pretty like pretty much made a made
this deal to myself that like I was gonna get
to where I like took my best as like an athlete,
where like I'm really happy with the product I would
(19:56):
be putting out there. And then Um, that's what I've
been doing for the last what eighteen months. I was
training myself UM back home in Pennsylvania up by Philly,
and then UM, I just moved down to Nashville like
two weeks ago to train with one of my uh,
one of my friends who's a throwing trainer down here.
And the goal is to get resigned soon. So that's
(20:18):
the plan. So you're so you did pitch that first
season and that was in what league? I'm always so
confused by the way the miners work and all that.
So two thousand and eighteen was in so I Sy
there's rookie ball. There's a rookie ball league which is
in either Arizona there's one, and then there's in Florida.
It just depends where your team is located. So I
(20:40):
played for two weeks, I believe, in Arizona in the
rookie league, and then I got moved up to UM
the short season league, which was in Utah. And that
was directly after that senior year. So it's like you
signed in June, You're out there and you're playing in
you know, middle of June, you're starting like you're starting
a week later. So when they cut you during COVID.
(21:02):
Was that was that based off your play the previous season? Well,
for me, for my my certain situation when we spoke
on the phone is basically just hey, it's a um,
we gotta let you go. And I knew that it
would It was due to the fact, like my velocity,
how hard I was throwing wasn't where they had where
(21:24):
they would have liked. So what were they looking for?
And where are you at they're looking they're looking for?
I mean, it just depends on what your role would be.
I mean, mid nineties, you know what they're looking for.
At that time, I was not there. I was probably
upper eighties, low nineties picture, and you're gonna you're looking
for a relief position like closer role or looking for
(21:46):
I'm looking for whatever. You know. Actually, once I got
into Pro Bowl, um, the first season, I had been
a reliever for the first two weeks down in Arizona,
and then they when I when I moved up, they
made me a starter. So I actually for the Majar
Day of my Pro Pro Bowl the first two years
I was a starter, which was I hadn't started since
high school. But you know, it's one of those things
(22:08):
that you know, once you've done it, it's just you know,
it's that's your thing. So in these last eighteen months,
you haven't really been in contact with teams. You've more
so just been focusing on your training, building your velocity,
strengthening your arm, that sort of thing too. Then, like
you said, give them a better product to be like,
we're you're too hard to pass up on. Yeah, that's
the idea. The idea is like you know, um well,
(22:30):
I was pretty much working on whether like changing my mechanics,
making sure, you know, strength training, just making sure I
was moving moving the way I wanted to on the
pictures mount. There's a lot that goes into it, like biomechanically,
so um yeah, Like I didn't want to put I
didn't want to reach out and put a product like
myself as the product out there that I wasn't confident.
(22:50):
You know, there's I'm not gonna just reach out to
people to reach out and then you know, ultimately you
turn them away if it's not the product that they're
looking for. And I knew that I wasn't, that I
wasn't and you know, I wasn't at that point at
the time. So the whole idea is get myself good
enough where when I send something out, you know I'm
peaking their interest, and then the lot to get something done.
(23:10):
You know, I mean, you've already tackled one underdog journey
and climbing the mountain to the top of college baseball,
um sounds like another journey that's accomplishedble. I know that
the MLB is a broader scale and much more competitive,
but you know, it's not like it hasn't been done before.
And it sounds like you're putting a lot of work in. Okay,
one more break coming your way. Don't go anywhere. You've
(23:31):
come too far to click away now so much more
in the last twelve or thirteen minutes, Matt has yet
to talk about his perspective from the journey, what minor
league players do on the side to sustain their living,
the pay of minor leaguers, and what rule in baseball
he would change, and a few more good ones I
won't give away. So stay put, folks will be right
back and Walkie talking. His podcast on the College Athletes
(23:52):
Network is back with your host myself, Noah Buono. Make
sure you are subscribed and downloaded and leaving the show
review if you are enjoying and we're on the home
stretch here on Matt's inspiring journey in his great perspective,
so let's bring him back in. So, having that successful
college baseball career you had as a walk on, what
kind of perspective do you think being in that walk
(24:13):
on role ultimately gave you about yourself and just about
life in general. It's, um, yeah, you learn a lot, right,
you definitely learned a lot. I remember when I first
got on campus and like first getting to practice that
like seeing the guys that were, you know, juniors or
seniors at the time, and being like, oh, man, like
can I play with these guys? You know, like not
(24:33):
even believing it yourself, just the way they moved, like
they've been around the program for a while. That these
guys are twenty two or twenty three. You're seventeen or eighteen.
So it's one of those things where like it took me,
It took me quite a bit, like you know, a
couple of months to like, actually, you know, convince yourself,
all right, this is where you know I'm I'm good
enough to be here. So that's like that's the first
step is if you convincing yourself that you belong or
(24:56):
that you're good enough. So that was one of things
like just really yeah, once you can convince yourself that,
like the rest kind of falls into place. But obtaining
the right mindset, yeah, because if if you're in an
environment where it's like, well, I think I'm as good
as these people, but like you know, you don't really know,
you're like half in half out, then you're probably gonna
end up failing. So yeah, it's all about how you
(25:16):
kind of program your brain to just have like a
delusional sense of confidence that like no, no, no no, I'm
I'm actually just as good as you. You You know what,
I'm better than you. I haven't showed it, but in
my mind better than you. Yeah, it's like setting the
one I forget who I've read this before, but it's
like set unrealistic goals and like or something like that.
So like like unrealistic goals and expect to achieve them
(25:37):
type thing, like like you have these goals and you
just like for some reason, you expect to achieve them
even though it's it seems super far fetched to everyone else. Yeah, exactly,
because at the end of the day, it don't matter
what everybody else thinks about your own personal goal. Um No,
that's great. So a couple of quick hitters for you
that I'm interested in hearing from your perspective, Well, would
(26:00):
you compare being a walk onto in just everyday life
if there's something you could compare that role to another role.
If you don't have an answer, that's totally fine with
But that's tough. Hold on. Well, I mean, I guess,
but like the way that I would, I mean even
just like talking about sports and like athletics, it's like
(26:20):
anything you do in the athletic world, like competitively, it's
like it's it's gonna be so much tougher than anything else.
I feel like you go through just like you know,
the last couple of months, I was just training myself
and like you know, working a couple of jobs to
pay rent stuff like that. It's like those other jobs,
it's just they're just you know, it's it's easy to
tackle once you've had like adversity in a sport or
(26:41):
like you know, just the discipline of having to do
stuff every day, that type of thing. The but um,
I don't know if I could compare being a walk
on mainly just the mental like the mental toll it
takes on you that every like you're not at least
in my situation every day for what five or six months,
not knowing whether I was on the team or if
I was going to make the team. So it's just
(27:02):
one of those things, is like not knowing like the unknown,
like to stop being afraid of like the unknown you
know in your daily life, whether or not you know
something like your whether you know trying to do something
in your your new job or create something new. It's
like not being instead of doubting the success that you
could have from it, just you know, stick with it,
(27:22):
instead of being afraid of like the unknown of what's
out there doubt. That's awesome. So let me let me
for the listeners get some inside info on what an
aspiring MLB player is doing in the meantime while he's
training as a side job, like to pay your rent?
What are what are some of the things you've been
doing so with your major from college? Uh? What has
it been? Yes? So I have I have two majors
(27:45):
um finance and marketing major. I haven't I haven't used
this at all, so yeah, at some point, howfully, I mean,
we'll see, But I was working just in a pharmacy
as a pharmacy technician. Just get in there before they open,
(28:05):
you know, set everything up. Just kind of spend from
like seven am to ten thirty or whatever just to
get in and out so I could get spend the
majority of my day training just you know, stuff like that.
I was also then working at a baseball facility back
in Pennsylvania, just working with like youth kids, um, doing
(28:25):
lessons and camps and stuff like that, which which was
pretty like much more satisfying considering it's something that I
really enjoy and like seeing kids enjoy the game that way,
like reminds you, like, all right, this is just a game,
you know, to some extent, it's not me. It's not
my identity, which is refreshing because you kind of get
caught up in your own little path and then, uh,
(28:46):
I don't know. I've also just like delivered door dash
and stuff like that, trying to make again, you know,
get it anyway you can. I hear you. Um Let
me rewind really quick though to what you were saying
before about you're eighteen months training and moving down to Nashville,
Like what more in your game are you looking to
get like, where are you at with your velocity? And
(29:07):
like that overall products? Are you almost there? Are you? Like?
And what's the end goal? Like? How where are you
at with all that? The initial goal, like I said,
the deal like I had made with myself, was when
I was at my best. This was before I had
been released. Um, it was right around like ninety four
miles an hour that had been my best in the past. Um,
(29:28):
that was where I told myself I would train myself
to get to before I moved somewhere else to get
some other help. Um. So right, I just moved two
weeks ago, my previous bullpens before I moved war right
in that ninety four right where I wanted to be.
So then I called my friend moved down here. Um,
that's where I am right around there, you know, ninety four.
(29:50):
The goal is to be mid nineties, you know, touch whatever.
You know. That's that's that velocity is. It isn't everything,
but it's what's gonna get you in the door. Right,
It's it's the I test type thing, you know, right, right, Yeah,
that's cool though close. I mean I'm in the right
(30:12):
spot now. I believe with the people I'm working with
I'm out of actual you know, baseball facility, and I
think the people around me being around other athletes. Um Like,
I was training for eighteen months by myself in a
in a gym that my buddy owns, you know, so
it's just every day I was the only one, you know,
is nice. That's a lot of discipline to just get
(30:33):
in there and you know, do your your morning job
every day and do your door dash and then know that,
like it's it's on you to put that work in.
Otherwise the dream fades and the gold kind of becomes
nothing because you didn't put the work in. So that's
that's even more of a testament to you to be
able to put the work in by yourself every single day.
Um So, one thing I'm always curious about, back to
(30:56):
the quick hitters, is is there any rule in baseball
that you would change to make the game more watchable?
What what do you think can be done there? That's
tough because they're trying to change a lot of things,
and I don't know if they're the right things to change.
Like they're trying to change there's some speculation like whether
they're going to move the ball or the mound backwards
(31:18):
and stuff like that. I think that stuff should stay.
I think that, UM one thing that I do like
the way that the game's going is the like allowing
players to kind of celebrate and like not necessarily like
you know, bat flip or kind of sure, you know,
yelling at the hit or after they strike him out,
that type of thing where it's like like you're allowing
players to actually show emotion as opposed to you know,
(31:40):
the next guy is gonna get hit or thrown at.
Stuff like that. I think like the the same thing
with the like with the NFL, Like, let the guys
celebrate that type of thing, let them show emotion. It's
people like that. People like that when they're watching it.
You know. I think most people would probably agree that
just shorten the game, shorten the season up a little bit.
Like I'm always I'm like a firm I'm firm on
(32:03):
from a hundred and sixty two games to a hunter games.
I just feel like that extra sixty two is stupid
and honestly, like, let's add an extra round to the postseason.
So instead of two rounds and then the World Series,
let's do three rounds and then the World Series. Because
playoff baseball is so much more. If baseball game but
everything I can't. I won't watch really many regular season
games if they don't matter. What does games sixty five
(32:25):
matter on a hundred to sixty games scale, it means nothing.
Um So, as a baseball player, you know, striving again
into the big leagues, what do you think it takes
from your baseball perspective for people to really be successful
in the major leagues have a sustainable career. Obviously you're
still trying to figure that out yourself, but I'd love
to know what you think to at least, you know,
(32:46):
climb up the ranks from you know, rookie ball to
the to the big leagues. There's five levels or six
levels in between there, so that's tough you know, to
even begin with. But I think you actually really have
to like enjoy the game or like the game, you know,
because the same thing in the Miley's you're playing a
hundred and forty games in probably a hundred fifty days,
(33:07):
so you have an off day, I don't know, maybe
once every three weeks, four weeks, you know, So like
if you don't really you know, like the game or
enjoy being being around the game, it's tough. It's tough
to do. So it's like but I mean, like you said,
I'm still trying to figure out what else goes into it.
I think it's just surround part part of its surrounding
(33:28):
yourself with the right people that like no, you know,
your coaches or stuff like that. Surrounding yourself with people
that know and finding a routine that works for you.
Like I've you know, you fall into a routine with
your body. Okay, so on this day, on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
I gotta do this to feel good, I gotta do this.
I don't know, it's tough, but but mentally, like like
I also said, I think the probably the main thing
would be um like not not being afraid of the unknown,
(33:52):
like in a job, like a career in sports or
athletic career in college. It's the same thing. It's like
you don't you don't know, you don't know what you're
gonna do that night. So it's just being and if
you fall into a slump or funk, you know, just
just sticking with it, knowing like what you're capable of,
like having the mental capacity like trust yourself and believe
in it. That's probably big. Once you lose belief, you know,
(34:12):
it's it's over. Yeah, that's one of my biggest focus
is currently is like everything I'm trying to do is
you know, just my mental capacity, Like how much can
I get myself to withstand regardless of what I'm doing
if it's hoops, podcast, school, I mean not really school,
weight room. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of elements
that in everybody's everyday life that it's like just how
(34:33):
much can you really do? Like and it it just
comes down to what we said earlier about the mindset,
like can you propel yourself and just talk ship to
yourself enough just kind of trick yourself that it's like
this isn't that Like it's you know, a laundry list
of nine things, but I'm gonna make it seem like
it's like four things. You know. Part of it's like
it sounds crazy, but it's like like your ego gets
(34:53):
in the law, which is it can you can use
that to your benefit? You know, get up early and
you go out and you start your day. You get
up at like six or something, you know, you start
your day earlier. You go for a run, like no
one else is outside. You know, you have that. Listen,
I'm the only one doing this, Like I'm getting that.
You know, are you staying late in the cages or
you know, on the court, get you put up an
extra like five shots, right, It's like you have that.
(35:15):
That's the way to selfishly build confidence in yourself, Like
I'm I'm doing this and you know my teammates are
out partying or something like that. You know, to trick
yourself to do these things because you're gonna get this
little selfish out of it, you know, in theory, but
it's gonna benefit everyone in the end. Right if you're
a better player, your team is benefiting it. Even if
you're you're selfishly staying late, you know, absolutely, it's I mean,
(35:39):
how selfish can it really be? Like yeah, just the
way I guess you look at it in your head
like yeah, no doubt, like an ego thing, but in
real in reality, you know, you're benefiting yourself and everyone,
and that's probably the best time I guess too have
an ego because obviously, I mean, you gotta have an
ego in sports. But like the guys that are like
portraying their ego and like, you know, I'm the best
(36:00):
player here, but like and then they they're not backing
it up or anything, and they're just like, yeah, behind
the scenes, do you go and like internally and that
mental edge that you can kind of get from all
that is awesome. So this wasn't on my list of questions, Um,
but I'm going to add it anyway, and then we'll
wrap it up as a minor league baseball player like
(36:20):
that sort of career you said, there's five different levels,
like is there enough money to be a minor league
baseball player as your full time job? Because you you know,
you said you play a hundred forty games and like
a hundred sixty days and it's like, how do you
work any other time? Like that's your job? So is
the pay? It's probably not great, but it's got to
be somewhere to a level where it's like, Okay, I
(36:41):
can I can make this work. Um, yeah, it's not great.
I mean there's a lot of issues that they that
have that they've been publicizing about it, but um, it's yeah.
I Mean the thing is that you also then have
a six month off, you know, from September to March.
So a lot of people they jobs, you know, they
might work at a baseball facility in those six months,
(37:03):
which is kind of crucial to make some money, especially
as you're getting older, right and you know you might
have a family. Some guys have kids, so um, but yeah,
I mean that's yeah, that's I know, that's a that's
an issue for sure, But ultimately it's you're playing. You're
playing the game to to be a major leaguer, right,
So yeah, I mean they're they're they're you know, they're
(37:27):
they're feeding you. You know, if you have a game,
you're getting lunch and dinner. So you know, you're not
you're not making you're not making millions. You know, you're
not making great money. But um, for me, that's you know,
that's not why I'm there. It's it's too uh kind
of just like prove something to myself that I'm good
enough at this point. At this point, that's what it
comes down, is like just to prove to myself that
(37:49):
major league that's the that's the idea. And you know
the goal is to bet on yourself, right, So down
the line that that the money that you make from
from doing that, it can you know, take care of
a couple of years that you didn't really you didn't
really live lavishly, you know, to help take care of
your family for all the sacrifices that they made to
to you know, allow you to live your dream type thing.
(38:12):
And at the end of the day, you do it
for the love of the game that you've had your
entire life. And you stole the words out of my mouth.
That's how I was going to wrap the episode up.
Is just what a story about betting on yourself, Like,
show up to Seaton Hall, you have no guaranteed spot
on the team. It's just like, you know what, I
don't even care. I'm coming to these workouts every single
day in the fall and I'm gonna just show you
guys what I'm about why I can help this team.
(38:34):
And it turned into an all big East unanimous selection.
You're senior, your team captain, Like just what a great story.
And then you sign an MLB contract like you've you know,
pretty much done at all. Obviously you want to go
do more, like you've you've hit the certain point, but
you know the discipline, the grind that you're on, like
it's inspiring to hear. I hope people listening they probably
(38:54):
think you're a badass. I mean I think it's a
great story, like, very happy you came on the pod
and it's been sharing your start. Thank you. Yeah, I
was cool. I was like, my my brother in law
message me and then you ret messages me like later
in the day, and I was like, oh yeah, absolutely,
all right, man, appreciate you. Thanks for having me on.
It was awesome. Yeah, no doubt. All right, that's a
rap for episode six. Thank you to everyone who tuned in.
(39:15):
I hope you all enjoyed it. Man, guy with that
kind of disappointed work ethic will inevitably get what he
is working for. So good luck to Matt on the
rest of his journey. I'm excited to keep following him
and I hope he ends up as a closer for
the mess because Edwin Diaz fucking sucks. All Right, folks,
make sure you just subscribe to Walkie Talkies podcast on
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
listen to your podcast so you don't miss any episodes.
(39:37):
Episode seven will be out next week. Also, if you
enjoyed this episode, please be sure to leave the show
a rating or a star of your liking and let
us know what you think. Thank you all again and
Remember Walkie Talkies podcast has been a presentation of I
Heart Radio and the College Athletes Network.
Walkie Talkies is a presentation of I Heart Radio and
the College Athletes Network. Hey Yeah, what's up, walk you
(00:25):
talk He's Welcome back to episode six of Walkie Talkies
podcast on the College Athletes Network, featured on I Heart
Radio with the coolest walking on the country. I'm your host,
Noah Bono. And if you can't already tell I lost
my voice, why because I graduated college and I was
having a great time. And no the interview, I did
not lose my voice, So you don't have to worry
about listening to this raspy, old sounded man voice the
(00:45):
whole time. Um Anyway, today's episode features a former Seaton
Hall baseball walk on turned scholarship player and was a
unanimous first team All Biggie selection his senior year. A
Pennsylvania native, Matt Leon. And instead of giving my long
preview of every episode, I do want to just briefly
talk about what you can expect to hear from Matt
and I his conversation today. Matt started his career showing
(01:06):
up to Seaton Hall his freshman year with no guarantee
of a spot on the team, to ending up signing
a contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It's pretty crazy.
The first half of the episode, Matt breaks down his
entire walk on journey, which included how he tried out
for the first months of his freshman year leading up
to the season, and then when he found out he
made the team. Talks about his battles of being put
on scholarship and how he felt guilty about enquiring for
(01:28):
that scholarship that he felt he rightfully earned. Uh. Then
he goes into what he changed for him his senior
year that really helped him have such a dominant year
as a closer, and then we get into signing with
the Angels and where he's at currently with his pro career,
and if you stay through the whole conversation, hit Matt
with some quick hitters that I thought brought out just
as good conversation for the listeners. Very candid, very open
from Matt on his battle with working extra jobs and
(01:51):
waking up super early so he can make his money,
pay his bills, but also focus on his baseball career.
U super cool stuff, super inspiring stuff from Matt that
I think re listener will really enjoy. And I'm not
gonna spoil anything else. You'll have to listen through it
to hear it all. So lastly, before I bring in Matt,
please make sure you subscribe to Walkie Talkies podcast so
you don't miss any episodes. And as always, please start
the show and leave it a review. It really helps
(02:13):
the show become found by other people who may also
be interested. So I thank you in advance. And when
that being said, let's bring in my guest, former Seaton
Hall baseball walk on Matt Leon. What's up man? How
are you? Can you hear me? Yeah? Bro, thanks for
(02:34):
coming on. I appreciate it. So from the jump, we'll
start with how the walk on opportunity at Seton Hall
for the baseball team came about for you? How did
that try outcome about? Any connection help me get your
foot in the door? What was that process like? So
really like in high school, I really wasn't like a
I wasn't really sought after. I didn't really have any recruiting.
(02:54):
Our school is kind of coming after me. I really
only talked to maybe like three schools totals one or
two Division three schools. And then I had a coach
in high school had played at Seton Hall like he was.
He was pretty young at the time too, so he
was always he was a family friend and uh, I
was having a pretty good year, so he reached out
(03:14):
for me. UM, and then we kind of got to
talk and through that, UM they came out and saw
me pitch once. I pitched pretty well, and then um
they came out again. I really I really didn't have
anything good to show him, so talking kind of stopped there.
But they pretty much told me like, we don't we
don't think you're gonna be able to play here. Um.
(03:35):
So that was pretty deflating because like one of the
you're only talking to a handful of schools to to
hear that's not very good. So um, that kind of happened.
I had taken a visit there with them, like an
unofficial visit, and then, like I said, the second time
they saw me, it didn't really work out. So it
kind of just stopped communication went back. Was finishing high
(03:56):
school and then UM graduated and still had no idea
where I was going to school. So I actually was
going to go out to pit and just be a
student and hang it up because in my mind I
had only I only really wanted to play either Division
one baseball. I really didn't want to play. Looking back,
it's kind of like a stubborn thing to say, because
having played professionally, you play with kids from junior college,
(04:19):
you know, it doesn't really matter. But um yeah. So
I then went away on a trip and everyone was
asking me what I was gonna do, and I just
decided that, you know what, I'm gonna call seat in
the hall and let him know him showing up. So
that was the first step, just tell him I'm going
to show up as a student. And then I just
wanted to some type of tryout a thing. So you
(04:39):
showed up there with no guarantee that you'd get on
the team or even get a try out. Nothing. No,
I mean they said, listen, we'll give you any shot
that anyone else that will give anyone else. So I
had no My plan was My plan was like try
out whatever it took. The baseball fall is it's basically
(05:00):
you play a fall season, you know, against yourself. So
you play, you know, workouts, all that stuff, so they
can have you. You don't have to declare your roster
until you know, pretty like just before the season, so
you can work out with the team as long as
they feel like, you know, we don't know yet. Oh
you can voluntarily like choose I'm gonna work out with
the team in the fall and they'll let you come around. Yeah,
(05:21):
unless you know, unless you don't have what it takes,
then they can just cut you right there. But if
they you know, so it could be like, uh, it
could take you know, months. It's it's not necessarily just
like a try out you know that you'd see in
movies or anything like that. It's really just the like
the extent of how long the off season is, so
that that that ongoing fall was kind of like your
(05:44):
try out over those course of the months. And then
at what point did they tell Did they say to
you like, Okay, we're gonna We're gonna put you on
the roster. Uh So actually I didn't find out until
two days before opening day, so it starts Spember August.
I didn't find out. Our first game was February maybe fifteen,
(06:05):
So I didn't find out until February. Liket. It was ridiculous.
So it was like I had talked with them, and
I'd go in every weekend bother them. I'd be like, Hey,
what's the deal. Do we have a spot? Do we
have it? And uh a couple of times, like Thanksgiving break,
like before I went home, I wanted to have an
idea and they were like, we don't have anything, so
like if you want, we can help you look for
(06:25):
other schools to go to. And I was like, Nina,
that's all right. Same thing Winner Break. I'm like, hey,
what's the deal? And I listen. We don't want to
like keep you here and then you can't play in
the spring, like if something doesn't work out, and I
was like, no, it's all right, just just let me
know when something does so. And then two days before
the opening series, I kind of I found out why
(06:46):
are we show Adamant on Seaton Hall, Like if they're
saying they'll help you get to another school maybe or
you know, obviously probably could have played at a lower level.
What was the well, why was it feeling so strong
to just do it there? Well? I was already there,
so like I went there. Those conversations didn't happen until,
like I said, the holiday break. So you're there about
three or four months, you're already taking classes. Like these
(07:09):
guys on the team, they're like they're your best friends,
Like you're in their minds. They don't know you know,
they knew I was a walk on, but they you know,
we're just buddies. So those are your friends now. It's
like and that was one of my biggest concerns, was like,
if I don't make this team, are they gonna like,
am I still gonna be? Like? Are we gonna still
hang out? Like? Am I gonna go over to the
baseball house? Is that gonna be? How's that gonna work?
So that was one of my my things. But I
(07:32):
was there. My initial plan was, you know, try to
try to get a spot um and like in my mind,
like I knew somehow it would work out. But and
then if I didn't, if I didn't make the team
my freshman year was I'll give it another shot sophomore
year and then from there I'll make a decision whether
that's where I want to be or you know, So
(07:53):
when you ended up getting on the team, I mean
your freshman year as a walk on, you pitched in
six sixteen different games and you still and four of
them you're a relief pitcher for the other twelve. How
does that come about? Like what is your role as
a walk on on the baseball team? Like you don't
get it's just so weird to me. You don't get
picked for the team two days before the first game,
(08:13):
you playing sixteen games, so it's like you're clearly pretty
involved and you were on it. You're obviously needed in
some regards, So what's your role on a as a
walk on a baseball team like that? So I think
it's different than a lot of like like than football
or basketball, considering like those sports, there's just like you're
on you other a full rider or a walk on. Right, baseball,
(08:35):
there's only eleven point seven scholarships total, so there's thirty
five guys on the team. So half these guys are
only on the minimum. So some of these guys you
know they're they're on. There's only a handful of maybe
scholarship guys, so you know, it's not as much of
a factor. I don't believe like in like, uh that
(08:59):
type of regard, but like going and I pitched in
the opening series that we had uh like at a
U n C. So like I pitched, but I was
we were getting blown out and it was like a
game where there's like at what started the bottom, So
they threw me in and I like I had some success.
So I think it was kind of just the thing
I showed them, like, I'm like, I can pitch here.
(09:20):
So kind of just rolled from there and you know,
whatever they needed, whether it was like garbage time, the
game didn't matter, you know, just any type of way
to get in the door. It's interesting because there is
a I guess a difference from a baseball walk on
to basketball and football. Like, like you said, there's the
eleven point seven eleven and a half scholarships. Um so
(09:40):
I guess a lot of times, maybe half close to
half your team has to be somewhat a walk on.
Like I don't know if every how can they get
divvy up of a scholarship to thirty five guys. So
in some capacity there's probably a decent amount of walk
ons on your team. Yeah, so my freshman year, I
think there were maybe I would assume like in my
(10:02):
freshman class there was probably two or three of us.
Now there's a difference. You could be told like, hey,
we have a spot for you, we just can't give
you any money. Now, I guess that would be considered
a walk on as well. So like that that their
situations might have been slightly different than just kind of
showing up and trying to make the team. But yeah,
there's a lot of Like in baseball, there's half the
(10:22):
guys that you see on a team like that are contributing,
might have only you know, a quarter of an athletic
scholarship board or nothing. You know, like it's it kind
of once you're in the door, it doesn't really it's
it's it doesn't really matter what you're making, like what
they're paying you to be there, it's whether you can contribute, right,
you know, that's the same thing in basketball. Okay, well, okay,
talk his quick break coming up. Stay put to here
(10:43):
Matt talk all about his three year climb to an eventional, dominant,
and historic senior season. This is Walkie Talking Podcast and
I'm your host now Albano. Stay put, folks will be
right back and we're back. This is Walkie Talkie podcast
on the College Athletes Network, featured on I Heart Radio,
and I'm your host, now, what bono. Please make sure
you are subscribed, otherwise the remainder of this audio will
(11:04):
be able to reset all of the settings in your
phone and break all of your audio outputs for every
app you try to listen to something on ah L
O L No, not really, I'm just kidding. All right,
all right, I'm done. Let's bring back in my guest,
former Seaton Hall baseball walk on, Matt Leon. So, like,
for a baseball walk on, how common is it is there?
(11:26):
Let me rephrase this a little bit better. Is there
a difference from like the way you're treated from being
a walk on or being a scholarship player? It doesn't
seem like maybe there will be because of kind of
what you just said, but there's always that well, he
is a walk on. But like you, I mean, you
did say in the beginning about how like they were
all your friends and they didn't even really know you
were are you? They knew you were walk on, but
(11:47):
they didn't really know like he might not be on
the team, that sort of thing. Yeah, it's it's like
for me when I was having shown up and really
no one even knew, like I wasn't a part of
the official visits. That wasn't you know, they're early for
practice and stuff like that. I think it was a
little bit different. They were, um kind of just like
(12:07):
wondering who, Like who's this guy? What's this guy doing?
Like he's he's in our class? You know that type
of thing. But you know, like once you're once you're
there and like you're you know you're having morning lifts
at five am. You're there. You know you're doing practice.
Like once you're going through the grind with everyone, you know,
everyone starts respecting each other rights. If you're willing to
go through what I'm willing to go through, it's like
you should you know, you respect people that work hard.
(12:29):
At least that's how I am. I someone I works hard,
like they have my respect no matter what, no doubt.
Um So in your four years, were ever put on
a scholarship? Like were you ever given to partial maybe
a little bit more during those four years or where
we were walk on the whole way through um So
it was that was like one of the things that
kind of had like a battle with throughout the with
(12:50):
um you know, administration and like the staff. But I
did my senior year. I ended up being on a
full ride. So that was, yeah, that was nice, Uh
come but come my last year to kind of help.
But like once I had contributed my first two years
or like you know, my first year, I I kind
of brought up those conversations occasionally and you kind of
feel guilty doing it, to be honest, like asking for
(13:11):
something that you feel like you deserve, but it just
kind of so I always felt a little guilty doing that,
like you'd rather have them just come to you with it, like, yo,
you earned this kind of thing instead of like, hey,
like did I earn this yet? In your from your
perspective exactly, Like like like asking for a raise, Like
for some reason, everyone feels awkward asking for a raise
even though you know on paper, you know I did this.
(13:34):
I did this, So it's it's one of those things
where I always felt guilty asking um for that. But
I but I wanted to like feel like, hey, you
guys want me here as bad as I want to
be here. So for three years, you were kind of
paying your own way. Yeah, uh Now I was getting
like academic money, academic scholarship money, which was which really
(13:56):
helped because I wouldn't have been able to go there,
you know, just because but it was nice to finally
like get what what I've I had felt like I
had earned throughout those three years. That that last year,
and and it's tough because, like like I said, there
was only eleven like an eleven and a half scholarships,
and if they're guaranteeing that money to someone coming in,
(14:17):
then they can't really give that to someone who's already
in the door. So what did what do you think
you showed those first three years and that slow progression
up the ladder? What do you think you showed that
your senior year? They were like, you know what of
the eleven point seven scholarships, we're gonna give you one
full one, Like we'rena give you out of thirty five
people an entire four one And you were just a
(14:37):
closer your senior year, Like you pitched in you pitched
thirty innings. So like that's a big investment on I mean,
not that the closes, there's obviously very important. I used
to play baseball, I watch baseball, so I know that,
but like in terms of college baseball, like that's a
big bet for them. So good reward for you, but
a big bet for that that come about. So like
(14:59):
I'm not sure if it was like it wasn't like
officially of one full athletic scholarship, because it was kind
of just supplementing whatever I had from my academic you
know what I mean, So the rest of what I
had gotten Um, so I don't know exactly what it was,
but uh yeah, I don't know. I mean I think
they just realized, like I mean, just the way that
(15:20):
I went about my business like I was. You know,
I was always there late, whether there was something I
could work on or you know with the younger guys,
I was just a position where being there for the
reason contributing I guess, throwing a lot of innings or appearances, um,
being around like what it in, figuring out what it
takes to like win, you know, the whole goal was
to win a championship, Big East Championship, like we felt short.
(15:40):
I guess just just like them seeing that I was
the type of person that you know, could grab the
guy behind me and kind of bring me along. Um,
I don't know, That's what I always thought. I always thought,
Like for me, it comes down to just work ethic,
like whether or not, like are you doing enough to
like go home and not think like, oh man, what
should I have done it there? Like or being a
little bit like I'm a very guilty person, like if
(16:01):
I miss a rep or a set or something like that,
like that sticks with me. So that's just the way
I've always carried myself, and I don't know, maybe they
maybe they saw that, you know, that's that's what i'd
like to think. You know, they probably did. I mean,
you know, it gave you what you ultimately deserved that
senior year. You were a unanimous selection to the All
Big East team in two thousand eighteen as a closer
at one point one seventy r a thirty four strikeouts
(16:24):
and like I said, thirty innings pitched and I think
you set a Seaton Hall record twelve saves if I
read that correctly. So just talk about that climb first, second,
third year to ultimately get to that dominant point in
your senior season. It was, it was It was kind
of strange, but like I called, like come the fall
time and that year, like you know, you know, the
off seasons are grind like every day. You know, for
(16:47):
you it's a little different because you guys, off season
is after your season, which is you know, you have
a whole year to look forward to it. Our whole
off season leads up to our season, so it's kind
of just like this big long preparation for your season.
But um, it kind of gets them mundane. And like
I remember going into our head coach's office at one
point and literally saying like, man, I'm just I've just
been like trying to enjoy these practices, like I've been
(17:08):
having a lot more fun, Like I've been actually enjoying
showing up because I was really realizing, like my time
in college baseball is coming to an act. So it's
just like starting to really like enjoy that actual, like
daily thing. And part of that really I think propelled me,
uh that seniors just like enjoying the stuff that you know,
you kind of get bored with or you know, you
(17:29):
kind of get frustrated with, kind of learning to appreciate
the everyday routine of like like I'm asking, You're asking
to be there, you know, like this is what comes
with it, this monotonous grind. And then you find I'm
kind of at the same point now where I'm like,
I mean, I've been at it for so damn long.
If I don't just start enjoying this in some capacity,
like I'll never be happy. So you know, I think
(17:50):
I think that's what hits you as your last year
of being in college of like, well, this is my
last year of college athletic college baseball, college basketball, like
I want to get everything I can out of this. Yeah,
it's you feel because like people come back. You know
how many alumni come back or your teammates that you had,
and they're like doing it goes so fast. It goes
so fast you don't realize it until you're a senior. Like, wow,
I'm a senior year, like I should start enjoying this stuff.
(18:11):
And and part of that just like I started really
enjoying like the practices of baseball, just like the little thing.
So it made it so much more, like so much
more fun for me. And then playing the game was
just like that's the easy part, right, Like if you
enjoyed practice, you're getting better now, like the game's finally here.
It's just one of those things where I just wanted
to Part of it was also I didn't have any
(18:32):
like looks at for pro ball, Like I wasn't talking
to really any scouts before that year or anything like that.
So I had like a little bit of like a
chip on my shoulder and I was like just like
just watch, like you know, I'll be just keep that
type of ideas. So that kind of had a chip
on my shoulder going into that year. So that was
My next question is that senior season helped propel you
(18:53):
into talks and an eventual contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
I guess you were in their farm system or their
rookie league miners. Um. Just talk about that journey thus
far where you're currently at with your professional career. Yeah, So,
I uh had signed with them just after the draft.
I went undrafted. So I signed a free agent deal
(19:13):
right after my senior year, um, and then flew out there,
played two eighteen season, two nineteen season with them, and
then went down there for spring training, and then COVID happened,
so they sent everyone home and they canceled the year,
and then I got released during that time. So I'm
not with the Angels anymore. I'm a free agent. But
(19:36):
um yeah, that's like one of the hardest things to hear, right,
is someone telling you like that you're you know, you're
not good enough anymore. So um, but yeah, right after
that point, I pretty like pretty much made a made
this deal to myself that like I was gonna get
to where I like took my best as like an athlete,
where like I'm really happy with the product I would
(19:56):
be putting out there. And then Um, that's what I've
been doing for the last what eighteen months. I was
training myself UM back home in Pennsylvania up by Philly,
and then UM, I just moved down to Nashville like
two weeks ago to train with one of my uh,
one of my friends who's a throwing trainer down here.
And the goal is to get resigned soon. So that's
(20:18):
the plan. So you're so you did pitch that first
season and that was in what league? I'm always so
confused by the way the miners work and all that.
So two thousand and eighteen was in so I Sy
there's rookie ball. There's a rookie ball league which is
in either Arizona there's one, and then there's in Florida.
It just depends where your team is located. So I
(20:40):
played for two weeks, I believe, in Arizona in the
rookie league, and then I got moved up to UM
the short season league, which was in Utah. And that
was directly after that senior year. So it's like you
signed in June, You're out there and you're playing in
you know, middle of June, you're starting like you're starting
a week later. So when they cut you during COVID.
(21:02):
Was that was that based off your play the previous season? Well,
for me, for my my certain situation when we spoke
on the phone is basically just hey, it's a um,
we gotta let you go. And I knew that it
would It was due to the fact, like my velocity,
how hard I was throwing wasn't where they had where
(21:24):
they would have liked. So what were they looking for?
And where are you at they're looking they're looking for?
I mean, it just depends on what your role would be.
I mean, mid nineties, you know what they're looking for.
At that time, I was not there. I was probably
upper eighties, low nineties picture, and you're gonna you're looking
for a relief position like closer role or looking for
(21:46):
I'm looking for whatever. You know. Actually, once I got
into Pro Bowl, um, the first season, I had been
a reliever for the first two weeks down in Arizona,
and then they when I when I moved up, they
made me a starter. So I actually for the Majar
Day of my Pro Pro Bowl the first two years
I was a starter, which was I hadn't started since
high school. But you know, it's one of those things
(22:08):
that you know, once you've done it, it's just you know,
it's that's your thing. So in these last eighteen months,
you haven't really been in contact with teams. You've more
so just been focusing on your training, building your velocity,
strengthening your arm, that sort of thing too. Then, like
you said, give them a better product to be like,
we're you're too hard to pass up on. Yeah, that's
the idea. The idea is like you know, um well,
(22:30):
I was pretty much working on whether like changing my mechanics,
making sure, you know, strength training, just making sure I
was moving moving the way I wanted to on the
pictures mount. There's a lot that goes into it, like biomechanically,
so um yeah, Like I didn't want to put I
didn't want to reach out and put a product like
myself as the product out there that I wasn't confident.
(22:50):
You know, there's I'm not gonna just reach out to
people to reach out and then you know, ultimately you
turn them away if it's not the product that they're
looking for. And I knew that I wasn't, that I
wasn't and you know, I wasn't at that point at
the time. So the whole idea is get myself good
enough where when I send something out, you know I'm
peaking their interest, and then the lot to get something done.
(23:10):
You know, I mean, you've already tackled one underdog journey
and climbing the mountain to the top of college baseball,
um sounds like another journey that's accomplishedble. I know that
the MLB is a broader scale and much more competitive,
but you know, it's not like it hasn't been done before.
And it sounds like you're putting a lot of work in. Okay,
one more break coming your way. Don't go anywhere. You've
(23:31):
come too far to click away now so much more
in the last twelve or thirteen minutes, Matt has yet
to talk about his perspective from the journey, what minor
league players do on the side to sustain their living,
the pay of minor leaguers, and what rule in baseball
he would change, and a few more good ones I
won't give away. So stay put, folks will be right
back and Walkie talking. His podcast on the College Athletes
(23:52):
Network is back with your host myself, Noah Buono. Make
sure you are subscribed and downloaded and leaving the show
review if you are enjoying and we're on the home
stretch here on Matt's inspiring journey in his great perspective,
so let's bring him back in. So, having that successful
college baseball career you had as a walk on, what
kind of perspective do you think being in that walk
(24:13):
on role ultimately gave you about yourself and just about
life in general. It's, um, yeah, you learn a lot, right,
you definitely learned a lot. I remember when I first
got on campus and like first getting to practice that
like seeing the guys that were, you know, juniors or
seniors at the time, and being like, oh, man, like
can I play with these guys? You know, like not
(24:33):
even believing it yourself, just the way they moved, like
they've been around the program for a while. That these
guys are twenty two or twenty three. You're seventeen or eighteen.
So it's one of those things where like it took me,
It took me quite a bit, like you know, a
couple of months to like, actually, you know, convince yourself,
all right, this is where you know I'm I'm good
enough to be here. So that's like that's the first
step is if you convincing yourself that you belong or
(24:56):
that you're good enough. So that was one of things
like just really yeah, once you can convince yourself that,
like the rest kind of falls into place. But obtaining
the right mindset, yeah, because if if you're in an
environment where it's like, well, I think I'm as good
as these people, but like you know, you don't really know,
you're like half in half out, then you're probably gonna
end up failing. So yeah, it's all about how you
(25:16):
kind of program your brain to just have like a
delusional sense of confidence that like no, no, no no, I'm
I'm actually just as good as you. You You know what,
I'm better than you. I haven't showed it, but in
my mind better than you. Yeah, it's like setting the
one I forget who I've read this before, but it's
like set unrealistic goals and like or something like that.
So like like unrealistic goals and expect to achieve them
(25:37):
type thing, like like you have these goals and you
just like for some reason, you expect to achieve them
even though it's it seems super far fetched to everyone else. Yeah, exactly,
because at the end of the day, it don't matter
what everybody else thinks about your own personal goal. Um No,
that's great. So a couple of quick hitters for you
that I'm interested in hearing from your perspective, Well, would
(26:00):
you compare being a walk onto in just everyday life
if there's something you could compare that role to another role.
If you don't have an answer, that's totally fine with
But that's tough. Hold on. Well, I mean, I guess,
but like the way that I would, I mean even
just like talking about sports and like athletics, it's like
(26:20):
anything you do in the athletic world, like competitively, it's
like it's it's gonna be so much tougher than anything else.
I feel like you go through just like you know,
the last couple of months, I was just training myself
and like you know, working a couple of jobs to
pay rent stuff like that. It's like those other jobs,
it's just they're just you know, it's it's easy to
tackle once you've had like adversity in a sport or
(26:41):
like you know, just the discipline of having to do
stuff every day, that type of thing. The but um,
I don't know if I could compare being a walk
on mainly just the mental like the mental toll it
takes on you that every like you're not at least
in my situation every day for what five or six months,
not knowing whether I was on the team or if
I was going to make the team. So it's just
(27:02):
one of those things, is like not knowing like the unknown,
like to stop being afraid of like the unknown you
know in your daily life, whether or not you know
something like your whether you know trying to do something
in your your new job or create something new. It's
like not being instead of doubting the success that you
could have from it, just you know, stick with it,
(27:22):
instead of being afraid of like the unknown of what's
out there doubt. That's awesome. So let me let me
for the listeners get some inside info on what an
aspiring MLB player is doing in the meantime while he's
training as a side job, like to pay your rent?
What are what are some of the things you've been
doing so with your major from college? Uh? What has
it been? Yes? So I have I have two majors
(27:45):
um finance and marketing major. I haven't I haven't used
this at all, so yeah, at some point, howfully, I mean,
we'll see, But I was working just in a pharmacy
as a pharmacy technician. Just get in there before they open,
(28:05):
you know, set everything up. Just kind of spend from
like seven am to ten thirty or whatever just to
get in and out so I could get spend the
majority of my day training just you know, stuff like that.
I was also then working at a baseball facility back
in Pennsylvania, just working with like youth kids, um, doing
(28:25):
lessons and camps and stuff like that, which which was
pretty like much more satisfying considering it's something that I
really enjoy and like seeing kids enjoy the game that way,
like reminds you, like, all right, this is just a game,
you know, to some extent, it's not me. It's not
my identity, which is refreshing because you kind of get
caught up in your own little path and then, uh,
(28:46):
I don't know. I've also just like delivered door dash
and stuff like that, trying to make again, you know,
get it anyway you can. I hear you. Um Let
me rewind really quick though to what you were saying
before about you're eighteen months training and moving down to Nashville,
Like what more in your game are you looking to
get like, where are you at with your velocity? And
(29:07):
like that overall products? Are you almost there? Are you? Like?
And what's the end goal? Like? How where are you
at with all that? The initial goal, like I said,
the deal like I had made with myself, was when
I was at my best. This was before I had
been released. Um, it was right around like ninety four
miles an hour that had been my best in the past. Um,
(29:28):
that was where I told myself I would train myself
to get to before I moved somewhere else to get
some other help. Um. So right, I just moved two
weeks ago, my previous bullpens before I moved war right
in that ninety four right where I wanted to be.
So then I called my friend moved down here. Um,
that's where I am right around there, you know, ninety four.
(29:50):
The goal is to be mid nineties, you know, touch whatever.
You know. That's that's that velocity is. It isn't everything,
but it's what's gonna get you in the door. Right,
It's it's the I test type thing, you know, right, right, Yeah,
that's cool though close. I mean I'm in the right
(30:12):
spot now. I believe with the people I'm working with
I'm out of actual you know, baseball facility, and I
think the people around me being around other athletes. Um Like,
I was training for eighteen months by myself in a
in a gym that my buddy owns, you know, so
it's just every day I was the only one, you know,
is nice. That's a lot of discipline to just get
(30:33):
in there and you know, do your your morning job
every day and do your door dash and then know that,
like it's it's on you to put that work in.
Otherwise the dream fades and the gold kind of becomes
nothing because you didn't put the work in. So that's
that's even more of a testament to you to be
able to put the work in by yourself every single day.
Um So, one thing I'm always curious about, back to
(30:56):
the quick hitters, is is there any rule in baseball
that you would change to make the game more watchable?
What what do you think can be done there? That's
tough because they're trying to change a lot of things,
and I don't know if they're the right things to change.
Like they're trying to change there's some speculation like whether
they're going to move the ball or the mound backwards
(31:18):
and stuff like that. I think that stuff should stay.
I think that, UM one thing that I do like
the way that the game's going is the like allowing
players to kind of celebrate and like not necessarily like
you know, bat flip or kind of sure, you know,
yelling at the hit or after they strike him out,
that type of thing where it's like like you're allowing
players to actually show emotion as opposed to you know,
(31:40):
the next guy is gonna get hit or thrown at.
Stuff like that. I think like the the same thing
with the like with the NFL, Like, let the guys
celebrate that type of thing, let them show emotion. It's
people like that. People like that when they're watching it.
You know. I think most people would probably agree that
just shorten the game, shorten the season up a little bit.
Like I'm always I'm like a firm I'm firm on
(32:03):
from a hundred and sixty two games to a hunter games.
I just feel like that extra sixty two is stupid
and honestly, like, let's add an extra round to the postseason.
So instead of two rounds and then the World Series,
let's do three rounds and then the World Series. Because
playoff baseball is so much more. If baseball game but
everything I can't. I won't watch really many regular season
games if they don't matter. What does games sixty five
(32:25):
matter on a hundred to sixty games scale, it means nothing.
Um So, as a baseball player, you know, striving again
into the big leagues, what do you think it takes
from your baseball perspective for people to really be successful
in the major leagues have a sustainable career. Obviously you're
still trying to figure that out yourself, but I'd love
to know what you think to at least, you know,
(32:46):
climb up the ranks from you know, rookie ball to
the to the big leagues. There's five levels or six
levels in between there, so that's tough you know, to
even begin with. But I think you actually really have
to like enjoy the game or like the game, you know,
because the same thing in the Miley's you're playing a
hundred and forty games in probably a hundred fifty days,
(33:07):
so you have an off day, I don't know, maybe
once every three weeks, four weeks, you know, So like
if you don't really you know, like the game or
enjoy being being around the game, it's tough. It's tough
to do. So it's like but I mean, like you said,
I'm still trying to figure out what else goes into it.
I think it's just surround part part of its surrounding
(33:28):
yourself with the right people that like no, you know,
your coaches or stuff like that. Surrounding yourself with people
that know and finding a routine that works for you.
Like I've you know, you fall into a routine with
your body. Okay, so on this day, on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
I gotta do this to feel good, I gotta do this.
I don't know, it's tough, but but mentally, like like
I also said, I think the probably the main thing
would be um like not not being afraid of the unknown,
(33:52):
like in a job, like a career in sports or
athletic career in college. It's the same thing. It's like
you don't you don't know, you don't know what you're
gonna do that night. So it's just being and if
you fall into a slump or funk, you know, just
just sticking with it, knowing like what you're capable of,
like having the mental capacity like trust yourself and believe
in it. That's probably big. Once you lose belief, you know,
(34:12):
it's it's over. Yeah, that's one of my biggest focus
is currently is like everything I'm trying to do is
you know, just my mental capacity, Like how much can
I get myself to withstand regardless of what I'm doing
if it's hoops, podcast, school, I mean not really school,
weight room. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of elements
that in everybody's everyday life that it's like just how
(34:33):
much can you really do? Like and it it just
comes down to what we said earlier about the mindset,
like can you propel yourself and just talk ship to
yourself enough just kind of trick yourself that it's like
this isn't that Like it's you know, a laundry list
of nine things, but I'm gonna make it seem like
it's like four things. You know. Part of it's like
it sounds crazy, but it's like like your ego gets
(34:53):
in the law, which is it can you can use
that to your benefit? You know, get up early and
you go out and you start your day. You get
up at like six or something, you know, you start
your day earlier. You go for a run, like no
one else is outside. You know, you have that. Listen,
I'm the only one doing this, Like I'm getting that.
You know, are you staying late in the cages or
you know, on the court, get you put up an
extra like five shots, right, It's like you have that.
(35:15):
That's the way to selfishly build confidence in yourself, Like
I'm I'm doing this and you know my teammates are
out partying or something like that. You know, to trick
yourself to do these things because you're gonna get this
little selfish out of it, you know, in theory, but
it's gonna benefit everyone in the end. Right if you're
a better player, your team is benefiting it. Even if
you're you're selfishly staying late, you know, absolutely, it's I mean,
(35:39):
how selfish can it really be? Like yeah, just the
way I guess you look at it in your head
like yeah, no doubt, like an ego thing, but in
real in reality, you know, you're benefiting yourself and everyone,
and that's probably the best time I guess too have
an ego because obviously, I mean, you gotta have an
ego in sports. But like the guys that are like
portraying their ego and like, you know, I'm the best
(36:00):
player here, but like and then they they're not backing
it up or anything, and they're just like, yeah, behind
the scenes, do you go and like internally and that
mental edge that you can kind of get from all
that is awesome. So this wasn't on my list of questions, Um,
but I'm going to add it anyway, and then we'll
wrap it up as a minor league baseball player like
(36:20):
that sort of career you said, there's five different levels,
like is there enough money to be a minor league
baseball player as your full time job? Because you you know,
you said you play a hundred forty games and like
a hundred sixty days and it's like, how do you
work any other time? Like that's your job? So is
the pay? It's probably not great, but it's got to
be somewhere to a level where it's like, Okay, I
(36:41):
can I can make this work. Um, yeah, it's not great.
I mean there's a lot of issues that they that
have that they've been publicizing about it, but um, it's yeah.
I Mean the thing is that you also then have
a six month off, you know, from September to March.
So a lot of people they jobs, you know, they
might work at a baseball facility in those six months,
(37:03):
which is kind of crucial to make some money, especially
as you're getting older, right and you know you might
have a family. Some guys have kids, so um, but yeah,
I mean that's yeah, that's I know, that's a that's
an issue for sure, But ultimately it's you're playing. You're
playing the game to to be a major leaguer, right,
So yeah, I mean they're they're they're you know, they're
(37:27):
they're feeding you. You know, if you have a game,
you're getting lunch and dinner. So you know, you're not
you're not making you're not making millions. You know, you're
not making great money. But um, for me, that's you know,
that's not why I'm there. It's it's too uh kind
of just like prove something to myself that I'm good
enough at this point. At this point, that's what it
comes down, is like just to prove to myself that
(37:49):
major league that's the that's the idea. And you know
the goal is to bet on yourself, right, So down
the line that that the money that you make from
from doing that, it can you know, take care of
a couple of years that you didn't really you didn't
really live lavishly, you know, to help take care of
your family for all the sacrifices that they made to
to you know, allow you to live your dream type thing.
(38:12):
And at the end of the day, you do it
for the love of the game that you've had your
entire life. And you stole the words out of my mouth.
That's how I was going to wrap the episode up.
Is just what a story about betting on yourself, Like,
show up to Seaton Hall, you have no guaranteed spot
on the team. It's just like, you know what, I
don't even care. I'm coming to these workouts every single
day in the fall and I'm gonna just show you
guys what I'm about why I can help this team.
(38:34):
And it turned into an all big East unanimous selection.
You're senior, your team captain, Like just what a great story.
And then you sign an MLB contract like you've you know,
pretty much done at all. Obviously you want to go
do more, like you've you've hit the certain point, but
you know the discipline, the grind that you're on, like
it's inspiring to hear. I hope people listening they probably
(38:54):
think you're a badass. I mean I think it's a
great story, like, very happy you came on the pod
and it's been sharing your start. Thank you. Yeah, I
was cool. I was like, my my brother in law
message me and then you ret messages me like later
in the day, and I was like, oh yeah, absolutely,
all right, man, appreciate you. Thanks for having me on.
It was awesome. Yeah, no doubt. All right, that's a
rap for episode six. Thank you to everyone who tuned in.
(39:15):
I hope you all enjoyed it. Man, guy with that
kind of disappointed work ethic will inevitably get what he
is working for. So good luck to Matt on the
rest of his journey. I'm excited to keep following him
and I hope he ends up as a closer for
the mess because Edwin Diaz fucking sucks. All Right, folks,
make sure you just subscribe to Walkie Talkies podcast on
the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
listen to your podcast so you don't miss any episodes.
(39:37):
Episode seven will be out next week. Also, if you
enjoyed this episode, please be sure to leave the show
a rating or a star of your liking and let
us know what you think. Thank you all again and
Remember Walkie Talkies podcast has been a presentation of I
Heart Radio and the College Athletes Network.
Host
Noah Buono
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!