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Bryce Rainer enjoys baseball life in TigerTown

Bryce Rainer enjoys baseball life in TigerTown

Lakeland, Florida — Just like the countdown at Cape Canaveral, the Tigers waited in reverse order on the night of July 14:

… Eight … nine … 10 …

With Detroit selecting 11th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, no one had yet taken a 19-year-old sprinter who, to paraphrase the late Ernie Harwell, was expected to be long gone.

The Tigers got a break — actually, two breaks. The Angels in the ninth and the Nationals in the tenth passed on a guy Detroit wanted badly and happily snagged in the scramble for Bryce Rainer, bringing a 6-foot-3-inch frame and a left-handed bat and all the skills major league scouts ideally want in a shortstop to a Tigers shortstop-needing team.

Rainer checked into TigerTown on July 22, less than an hour after embarking on a dramatic new life playing professional baseball on a Los Angeles-Dallas-Tampa flight.

“It was pretty cool,” Rainer said Friday, sitting on a metal bench in a quadrangle of backyard fields on TigerTown’s 85-acre property. “I didn’t realize it was actually its own town. Everything was so close by.”

Likewise, his talents are tightly packed into that tall, 195-pound mass of efficiency. He has a left-handed swing that leaves his bosses in awe of the speed and arc he can get off the bat. He has a fluid, “fast-twitch” ease with which he takes ground balls and makes throws. He has base-line speed.

Rainer explained that there was a lot to like about a young man from Southern California, that Simi was “a 35-40 minute drive away without traffic” and that he was happy to attend Harvard-Westlake, the elite high school he attended. In fact, it wasn’t going to happen unless Westlake (who were making $50,000 and up a year) wanted a gentleman who played baseball there and was a talented athlete.

Rainer sat in the shade on a 90-degree, nearly equal-humidity day in Lakeland on Friday and acknowledged that the transition from a home-based prep athlete to a professional baseball player living in a dorm with other young men pursuing a career in baseball was a bit overwhelming.

“I think L.A. prepares most people growing up for a lot of different situations they’re going to encounter,” he said, sitting back in his blue Tigers shorts and Tigers T-shirt after practice.

“It’s a mix of different cultures and places. The biggest change for me, honestly, was the weather. It’s not hotter here. It’s a little more humid, which I wasn’t used to. And if that’s the biggest change I’ve had to deal with, I think it’s going to be pretty easy.”

If his foray into professional baseball had any personal downsides, it’s not surprising that it had to do with missing his family in Simi.

There’s his brother, Colton, who will soon be 17 and to whom Bryce is particularly close. There’s his sister, Keira, who is about to turn 14 and whom his older brother adores. There’s his father, Michael, the general manager of a Trader Joe’s not far from Harvard-Westlake. And there’s his mother, Lisa, a registered dietitian.

Fortunately, perhaps there is no girlfriend who creates the pain of separation.

While homesickness is an issue at Lakeland, which is true for many new players, Rainer says traveling to play baseball in the summers (emphasis on travel) helps.

“It’s something everyone has to do in life sooner or later,” he said with a half-shrug. “I was prepared for it.”

He was ready for his new regimen, too. He woke up early, had a good breakfast, drank plenty of fluids, and then headed to the back for drills and instructions.

So far, no games. The Florida Complex League, a sort of Initiation League for incoming talent, ended two weeks ago. A 20-game Bridge League, with the Tigers, Phillies, Yankees and Pirates taking turns competing at their own venues, is currently filling up.

But there is no lineup for Rainer yet. Starting is still happening in the backfield. He has been told, loosely, that he can expect to play in games within a reasonable time frame. But nothing definitive has been said. And there is nothing about this orientation that bothers Rainer.

Except perhaps for a problem that most players drafted in 2024 have.

They haven’t competed since May or June. By moving the MLB Draft to All-Star week, Commissioner Rob Manfred ensured that many prep and college players would miss out on playing a meaningful number of games in their first professional summers.

“Some of us haven’t played in a long time,” Rainer admitted. “The last time I played was early May. That’s almost three months. I can see some people maybe not getting frustrated with that, but if you don’t play after the draft, it’s another five months with the offseason, and that can be a long time without a game for some people.

“But it’s not just me dealing with this. A lot of people have to deal with it. Everyone has to adapt.”

Learning all of these lessons, not just about playing baseball but also about what is expected of a professional player in every aspect of life, made for a compressed three-week period.

Rainer has noticed that Tigers coaches are working on his defense more than his hitting — at least for now.

“I can just give you one example,” he said of his work with Tigers infielder Angel Berroa. “After working with him, I saw there were some things I needed to adjust.

“I’m a tall guy. So I had to stay a little lower when I was getting ground balls. I was a little bit shy when I was getting balls. I was kind of coming up, so we were working on that.

“Also, the ball flying out of your hand. You want to throw the ball to first base, have a smaller target than what I’m used to. We’re really working on that target.”

He had a great spring at Westlake, posting a . 505 batting average, 28 walks, 14 strikeouts and a 1.336 OPS in 33 games.

The Tigers are taking the time to make any significant swing adjustments or mechanical tweaks. Those tend to be more of an offseason project, to the extent that Rainer will need maintenance, which at this point, appears to be minimal.

There was no sudden transition from metal clubs to wooden clubs.

“I actually like wood better than metal bats,” Rainer said. “Most people do, to be honest. Besides, you either make it square or you don’t.”

What he particularly loves about professional baseball is the day-and-night cycle of near-constant happiness that comes with making a living playing the sport he loves, and the $5.79 million the Tigers banked after he signed the contract.

When he’s not playing baseball, he’s hanging out with his new friends. He’s rooming with another Tigers draft pick, outfielder Jackson Strong. The guys, all of whom are in Fetzer Hall, play cards, watch TV, play video games, shoot pool, fish for bass or catfish in the adjacent Lake Parker — whatever. They can eat in the team cafeteria. They can order from DoorDash. They can go to a restaurant in Lakeland if they want.

He also appreciated the introductions last month in Detroit, especially the handshake with Tigers manager AJ Hinch, the Ilitch family who own the Tigers, and Tigers broadcaster and perennial Dodgers World Series icon Kirk Gibson, a nod to his and his father’s Dodgers roots.

“I don’t think it’s even hit me yet,” Rainer said. “It’s a strange thing to have a job that you love – maybe not strange, but unusual. But I think most people who are successful in life enjoy what they do.”

If there’s one incongruous piece in this serene portrait, it’s the piece hanging from Rainer’s neck chain, a metal necklace with the Latin words “Memento mori” inscribed on it.

There is a story there.

The cover of a book in Rainer’s home library read “Memento mori.” Bryce was intrigued. Translated, it means “Remember that you must die.” She plans to get a tattoo to commemorate the words.

Dark, perhaps, unless you take from the Latin the message of this death march, a creed espoused by Rainer: Make the most of each day. Make the most of life.

These are the near-term and long-term plans of a 19-year-old man who wants this big league journey to be consistently profitable. Every day.

The Tigers think he will do just that.

Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and former Detroit News reporter.