The life of a pro baseballer
Starting in your first year as a professional sports person can be very daunting. But when you must travel to a whole new country to train and play your sport and live in foreign conditions then things just get that little bit tricker.
For MSA Alumni Jayden Kim this has been his life for the past 12 months and will be again for season 2025. While Jayden has signed a contract with MLB team the Pittsburgh Pirates, he must go through the pathway and make his way through the different levels of the sport, and that means starting in Rookie ball and living in the Dominican Republic. “I am living my dream” says the 18-year-old infielder. “I have always wanted to play professional baseball since I was a young boy, and for the last 12 months I have had the chance to do it. It’s amazing.”
Jayden’s family moved from Korea, so he could be a part of the MSA Baseball program, which he was for two years before signing with the Pirates. Jayden admits things really step up a level when you become a part of a big-league team. “It’s a lot more intense. Everyone is training and playing at a high level. We wake up at six in the morning, have a shower and breakfast then we train until 11 am and go straight into a game until 2 in the afternoon, before heading to the gym or some free time in the afternoon.”
Jayden says that the techniques that he learnt in the gym as part of his HPP program in years 9 and 10 prepared him well for life as a professional athlete. “What we learn he at MSA and the environment here really does get you ready for the next stage of your career. When the S and C coaches at your professional club ask you to do an exercise or a weight session, you can do it straight away because you have already learnt it.”
Learning a new language has also been a challenge for Jayden. His Spanish has improved in the last 12 months and needed too, because nobody really speaks English. “I have one other Australian teammate at the camp, so we speak to each other a fair bit because everybody else speaks Spanish.”
The Sandringham VBL player has been home for the past couple of months during the winter break and has been playing local summer ball for Royals with another MSA Alumni Robinson Smith, who will be joining Jayden for spring training at the Pirates Rookie Ball team camp after signing with the MLB team late last year.
In 2024 Jayden played his debut Rookie season with the Pirates rookie ball team for 34 games. He had 69 at bats and had 15 hits for an average of .217, but with that first year under his belt, Jayden now knows what to expect in 2025 and hopes to take his game to the next level.
We wish Jayden all the best as he continues to live his dream.
