Yahoo Sports checks in with the new faces at the 2024 All-Star Game Media Day Midsummer Classic in Arlington, TX.
Video transcript
Being an All Stars honoree and just the first one being the hometown is just amazing and my whole family will be able to come and do the derby afterwards.
I was, every time they reached out to me, I was like, wow, really?
My.
And so, yeah, being home, coming back to grow up, going to the city across the street, but growing up as a Rangers fan, it’s really special.
I called my dad and he was working and I told him quickly and then he had to go.
But, um, I got to talk to my mom a little more and she was super excited.
She, um, she said she was at Publix, um, a grocery store when I called her.
She said she shed a tear.
So it’s really cool.
I only get emotional when I play baseball.
So, you know, just, you know, very happy, very happy, you know, for the, for the work that I’ve always done, you know, and, you know, that’s rewarding.
I got a lot of texts from people I’ve recently talked to, people I haven’t seen or haven’t seen in a long time.
It’s, uh, you know, it’s been, it’s been cool to see all, all the people reaching out just from all the different stops that I’ve made in my baseball life for me.
It’s my first All Star game.
So being here for me is really cool.
And then I think for the fans too, it’s amazing.
I need to talk to him a little.
He’s a very mature guy, with a great work ethic, has a good grasp of mechanics and enjoys what he’s doing physically at such a young age.
So I think the sky’s the limit and I hope he does well tomorrow with me and he’s obviously got the electric stuff and he’s proven that.
So yeah, I’m looking forward to that, that competition and just seeing that this would be the first time I’d face him.
So it would be really cool to see maybe Marcelo, you know, he’s having an incredible year and, you know, I got drafted by Miami when he was in Miami and he was one of the first people to give me a real big-time kind of bat. turns on.
And I’ll be forever grateful for that opportunity and then to see his career develop and, and he has the years that have passed now, I think he’s worked really hard and I’m really proud of him and excited to show him what a good man he is.
I say hi to all times.