A's prospect gives a look into Minor League life

MESA, Ariz. — The life of a Minor Leaguer isn’t glamorous, especially that of one who enters a professional career relatively unheralded. However, those players often make for intriguing stories, and that’s why A’s prospect Aiden McIntyre has taken it upon himself to chronicle his own journey.

McIntyre, a right-handed pitcher who was a 22nd-round Draft pick by the A’s in 2018, has taken the long road in his quest to work his way up the organizational ladder. Through a series of YouTube videos, the 26-year-old righty provides fans an inside look at those ups and downs.

"I wanted to do it like how I would have wanted to find out about a baseball player when I was 12 or 16 years old, or when I was in college,” said McIntyre. “I wanted to document that so hopefully, from a baseball perspective, I could help other players. And from a fan perspective, give fans entertainment and an inside look into what baseball players do. We're all baseball players, but outside of baseball there's a lot of things that guys do in life or talents and stuff like that.”

The idea of starting up a YouTube channel was sparked in 2020 when McIntyre found himself with unexpected free time as the Minor League season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vision for what type of content he wanted to create was there, he just didn’t know where to begin. That’s where his fiancée, Addison, came in.

With the help of Addison, who helped come up with ideas, and some friends who were experienced in video editing and producing, McIntyre officially launched his channel, titled “Aiden McIntyre,” in November 2020. The videos evolved as each month went by, with content ranging from pitching tips to vlogs documenting a day in his life and even debates over what’s the better burger between Whataburger and In-N-Out.

Also evolving quickly each month was the viewership. Now, the channel is at nearly 90 videos published – a handful of which are pushing over 10,000 views – and over 3,000 subscribers, all numbers McIntyre never would have guessed he’d reach.

“When I created [the channel], it definitely wasn't with the expectation that it was going to be super successful or I was going to make money off of it,” said McIntyre. “When I hit 100 subscribers, I thought that was pretty cool. I think [January of 2021] I was at around 750 [subscribers] or something like that.

"During the season, I put out a few vlogs from my time in [High-A Lansing], a few for Double-A Midland and those got pretty good feedback. I think people enjoy watching in-season stuff more. That was probably when I gained the most followers. The goal was to stay consistent and not completely drop it. For my first year doing this, I was pretty happy with it.”

One of McIntyre’s most popular videos is a breakdown of how his fastball velocity increased from 80 mph at the start of his college career to 95 mph by the end of his senior year. A quick scroll down the page of that YouTube video will show a comment section filled with aspiring ballplayers asking questions. McIntyre enjoys interacting and trying to help, which is why he’s also taken up a job with Driveline Baseball working remotely as a throwing trainer over the past two offseasons.

“Most young pitchers have the same questions I had,” McIntyre said. “I wanted to come up with videos and solutions to help. A lot of the questions I'll get asked are through Instagram and I'll usually get back to guys and talk about throwing programs. Everybody wants to throw harder, myself included, so I’m trying to create videos that would have been helpful to me.”

Following the end of the 2021 season, McIntyre put out a vlog recapping his overall year, which began with High-A Lansing and ended with a promotion to Double-A Midland. He discussed a goal he had to cut down on the walks after issuing 76 the last time he played a full Minor League season in 2019. For 2021, McIntyre accomplished that goal, posting a 2.82 ERA with just 17 walks allowed and 67 strikeouts across 51 innings combined for Lansing and Midland.

The path to the big leagues won’t be easy. Entering the 2022 campaign, McIntyre sits outside of the A’s Top 30 Prospect list, per MLB Pipeline. He’s already hit one early roadblock as he underwent surgery in early February to relieve irritation and inflammation caused from a nerve in the back of his elbow. However, McIntyre is encouraged by the timeline he received, which has him returning to throwing in late April with proper rehab work.

Despite not being on the prospect list, the A’s are well aware of the progression McIntyre has made as a pitcher.

“Aiden is a hard worker with a physical presence,” said A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens. “He had a strong season in High-A and more than held his own in Double-A. There’s plenty to work with, so [2022] will be a true test to see if he can vault himself on the radar.”