Large And In Charge

May 2019, Tampa FL-the site of that night's ballgame between Florida State League North Division rivals the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Tarpons who will do battle for the first matchup between the clubs in 2019. On a pristine and bright May Florida early afternoon, Blue Jays Infielder Cullen Large is completing a three cone infield drill with the goal in mind to tighten up the loose ends of his foot work at third base. With sweat dripping down creating a sweat stain on the front of his dry fit shirt, Large looks at his Manager Cesar Martin and Coach Jake McGuiggan and shares a laugh as he walks off one of the many backfields at a player's disposal at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Its par for the course of Cullen who just one year ago faced his toughest crossroads in his young professional career.
In February and March, professional players under contract with their respective Major League clubs congregate to facilities littered throughout central Florida and Arizona for Spring Training. While Spring Training has evolved over the years to more of an accelerated tune up for today's generation of talent, it still provides the respective organization a window into a player's development and preparedness for the upcoming regular season.
Morning workouts combined with afternoon inter-squad and spring training games become part of an adjusted routine, and individual and club goals are dispersed to players to further their development. In the case of Blue Jays Infielder Cullen Large, his laser focus was on one goal in particular---stay on the field.
There's no denying the success of Large thus far 2019. In April, Cullen carried a 20 game On-Base Streak that serves as the longest in the Florida State League and eighth highest in all of Advanced-A professional baseball. Large also paces the Dunedin offense as the leader in runs scored, hits, batting average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging, and OPS.
In early May of last year all of the current success seemed like a distant spec of a dream. While playing at Class-A Lansing, Large's playing career came to a screeching halt after he felt a tweak in his shoulder diving for a ground-ball. After proper evaluation, Large was diagnosed with a separated shoulder and was sent for a short trip to the Injured (Disabled) to try and rehab. The quest to get back to a healthy enough threshold to finish the year fell short and on June 6^th, Cullen was put right back on the shelf. "When I got hurt I was playing pretty well and walking off the field, I knew my season was going to be over," said Large. "It just wasn't in the cards and I had to prepare my mind for what was to come in recovery."    
Large knew this was going to be a long and tedious rehab process. According to rosterresource.com, 699 players fulfilled Injured list stints in 2018. If you take one peak at the list, you will see the game's most recognizable stars from Mike Trout to Mookie Betts that spent time on the shelf last year. And while teams may never quite figure out the Rubik's cube of how to keep players from getting hurt; organizations want to try and get guys back on the field as quick, efficient, and safe as possible. Unfortunately, Large understood the severity of the injury and knew there was no way around the long road back.
After a stellar college career at William and Mary University that included producing the second most hits in program history (225), Cullen was selected by the Toronto organization in the fifth round in the 2017 draft. Slashing a modest .246/.356/.325 with Short-Season Vancouver in 2017 made Large even more driven to show he wasn't just an attractive college hitter that compiled numbers. Large sprung out of the gate early in 2018 at Class-A Lansing, hitting .316 with nine doubles, five homeruns, and 18 runs batted in to go along with learning different positions in the infield to solidify his standing value in the Blue Jays farm system. This injury though put the baseball resume he was compiling in jeopardy.
The long road to recovery for any player is always filled with its' unknowns. Often times the injured party must endure a mundane daily life of an incapacitated athlete that is filled with its fair share of frustration, loneliness, and question marks of the future. Long days in the trainer's room are followed by nights of overthinking and wondering, and it was a reality Large couldn't quite escape at first. "I had surgery at the end of June and spent six weeks in a sling which was the worst part because you couldn't do anything," Large said. "My rehab was pretty standard because I was in a sling and at times I got bored with the routine and certainly was questioning what the future held."
Luckily for Large, he wasn't alone and had a chance to commiserate with the small fraternity of the walking wounded-and in particular his then teammate Christian Williams who was also hurt for extended period of time and trying to push his way back. "We definitely got closer because of that," Large said. "We just started to become friends when we were playing in Lansing together, and when we got hurt we decided to become roommates. Going through this with Christian helped because he understood what you were going through."
The reality of spending a hot and humid Florida summer buried in a trainer's room trying to recover from injury is a hollowing thought. To counter that, the twosome of Large and Williams would often try and keep their minds off baseball in an attempt to avoid the envy and anxiety that comes along with having to watch their peers get game reps and develop everyday. After a long day of rehab at the Blue Jays complex in Dunedin during the day, the guys put anything related to baseball on the backburner at night. "I just tried to keep my mind off baseball as best I could," said Large. "I'd watch Netflix, and explore other interests I had that kept me distracted from baseball for a while. I felt that watching baseball would force to rush to try to get back and that wasn't good for me."
The approach was starting to pay its' dividends for Large's mental state. He started to understand the bigger picture and used rehab as a resource in planning for the near future, re-enrolling for a fall course at William and Mary University to try to get closer to earning his Kinesiology degree and connecting with old friends and family more often. "Rehab can be used to hit the reset button and re-evaluate," said Large. "I wanted to re-enroll in school and take a fall course as well as getting closer with some family and friends that I lose touch with during the baseball season."
Eventually enough time passed and Large was ready for on-field baseball activities in September 2018. He created a personal blueprint that contained picking up his fielding work at different infield positions and making small mechanical adjustment to his swing. Cullen, who is a switch hitter, wanted to become more efficient from the right side of the plate. But the first note on his agenda in all capital letters was to become comfortable in just swinging a bat again and overcoming the fear of re-injuring his shoulder that was fresh in his mind. "My first goal was to take some swings off the tee and make sure everything was good to go with my shoulder," said Large. I was then trying to develop a more consistent swing path and flatten it out a bit."
In the October of 2018, Large coined this period his "Baseball rehab month." It was full throttle back to training and following his game-plan to getting back to being the healthy and productive player he once was. He traded the sweltering Florida heat for the breezy fall weather in Williamsburg, VA, and took his scheduled classes in the morning, grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch and ventured out to the field with some of his former college teammates to workout five days a week. He served as an impromptu coach and provided assistance where it was called upon. "I was around at practice and wanted to be a presence," said Large. "I played with a lot of the younger guys and so I wanted to be there for them if they needed any advice or pointers."
As the evening rolled in, Large joined his former hitting coach Pat McKenna in the indoor batting cage and got to work. He first took it slow but started to ramp it up as he felt better and better and eventually felt comfortable enough to strip apart his approach in order to implement the proper adjustments he set out to make.
By the end of October, Large was hitting on the field and taking his reps at game speed in a controlled environment. After a careful appraisal, Large felt he was ahead of schedule. "I knew my body was at a good point and that I could go home and just focus on baseball after the semester."
Large did not make any top prospect lists in the Toronto organization coming into 2019 and was eager to show his value in Spring Training. He now understood there was a bigger picture rather then just being obsessed with statistical results. "I knew I hadn't played in six months and the in-game stuff was going to take time," said Large. "I didn't want to lose sight of the good at-bats I was having."
A solid spring led Cullen to feeling more and more comfortable with each day passing and got the call to report to Advanced-A where he's impressed coaches, teammates, and his Manager Cesar Martin with his play and work ethic day in and day out. "Cullen is as solid as they come," said Martin. "He has the drive to always get better and can really swing the bat."
Often times Cullen is one of the first guys to arrive at the ballpark and get his early work in the cage or do infield drills at third in an attempt to perfect his craft. "Cullen is relentless," said Blue Jays Hitting Coach Matt Young. "He always wants to get better and is never satisfied."
On May 24^th, Large was one of four players named to represent the Dunedin Blue Jays as members of the North Division squad in the 2019 Florida State League All-Star game. What seemed like an unattainable goal a year ago was now a reality. Large credits his time missed in helping him shape his prosperity this season. "Not being able to play last year was so frustrating," said Large. "But having a bad game is nowhere near as bad as trying to get through an injury, and knowing that has helped keep me grounded."
Large understands the worst is over and the best could be yet to come. "I'm just happy to be back out there everyday getting to do what I love." It's that love that helped him persevere and continue his pursuit to prove his true value in 2019.