蜜柚直播

That鈥檚 who would give Medel his boarding pass and meal money before every road trip.

Now with the 蜜柚直播 Saguaros, Medel鈥檚 travel arrangements couldn鈥檛 be more different.

Medel and the rest of the team are in charge of their own travel arrangements, taking their own cars on road trips and staying at motels in different cities.

The drastic difference in resources and travel accommodations isn鈥檛 lost on Medel, who considers his new reality in the Pecos League humbling.

鈥淚 went from being on a nationally-recognized team, being on ESPN, to playing in the Pecos League, and the only media we have is our head coach (Bill Rogan) writing Facebook posts after games,鈥� Medel said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all we have. No one cares about us. We don鈥檛 get any media coverage.鈥�

After graduating from UA in 2018, Medel waited to see if he鈥檇 continue his baseball career. The Texas native always said he鈥檇 only continue playing if he got picked up by a professional organization.

The 2018 MLB draft came and went, and Medel didn鈥檛 hear his name.

鈥淏asically, I said I was going to play men鈥檚 leagues, but I would never pitch again because ... I felt like I lost the love for it,鈥� Medel said. 鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 really interest me.鈥�

Instead, Medel moved to Dallas and started working for Beto O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 senate campaign.

After O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 loss to incumbent Ted Cruz, Medel moved back to 蜜柚直播 鈥� this time to Casa Grande 鈥� and in with his grandparents. He started working in the freezer section of the Walmart Distribution Center. The pay was decent, but the work was miserable. Soon, Medel started wondering what else he could do.

It wasn鈥檛 until he started playing catch with his dad that Medel realized his pitching arm was still holding up. That inspired him to start getting back into the sport, and he made some calls to the 蜜柚直播 Saguaros.

鈥淚t鈥檚 Pecos League 鈥� I never thought I鈥檇 be here,鈥� Medel said. 鈥淚 told myself I鈥檇 never do it. I told myself if I didn鈥檛 get picked up by an affiliated team, I would never play again, but it鈥檚 my love for baseball that brought me back.鈥�

Even though he had never cared to play independent baseball, Medel thought he鈥檇 take a summer to play baseball full-time again and see where the opportunity could take him.

Medel joined the 2019 roster, became the team鈥檚 ace and took on the role of pitching coach.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool because I get to make small decisions in games or before games,鈥� Medel said. 鈥淐oaching is something I鈥檝e sort of thought about before and it鈥檚 kind of cool that I just walked in and they were like, 鈥楬ey, do you want to be our pitching coach? Because you kind of seem like you might know a lot.鈥� I was like, 鈥楽ure.鈥� And I did it.鈥�

Now, having to commute from Casa Grande for practices and home games, Medel couldn鈥檛 be happier for the situation he鈥檚 in.

鈥淚t was just easy for me because I love 蜜柚直播 and I love baseball,鈥� Medel said.

Because his family has moved from Texas to 蜜柚直播, they can watch him play and make his 50-minute commute from his grandparents鈥� house to Cherry Field worth it.

Once the season is over, Medel will reevaluate his playing career and see if there鈥檚 still more to give or if he鈥檇 like to go in a different direction.

For now, Medel is enjoying the humbling experience of playing for the Saguaros and getting to meet players from all walks of life. At 蜜柚直播, or other big-time programs, most players were funneled to reach that level of competitiveness, Medel said.

鈥淪o it鈥檚 kind of cool to hear the stories and get to know people and why they still play baseball (with the Saguaros),鈥� Medel said. 鈥淢y story is way different from everybody else鈥檚. I played down the street. I made viral videos. And now I鈥檓 playing in the Pecos League.鈥�