Freeman's message to his newborn daughter for Father's Day

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DENVER -- Rockies utility sparkplug Tyler Freeman and his wife, Jacy, welcomed their first child, a girl named Ella, on May 16.

Between the warm event and his first Father’s Day, Freeman had a scare when Brewers fireballing pitcher Jacob Misorowski’s 98.2 mph fastball hit him in the batting helmet. Freeman went to the seven-day concussion injured list a couple of days later.

If anything, it gave Freeman, 27, a chance to display an example of bouncing back for Ella, when she is able to comprehend. For when the time comes, Freeman put together a message for Ella.

“I’m a new dad, and just experiencing all the craziness of being a brand-new dad. My daughter, Ella, just this is for you.

“I'm super-excited just to be a father to you. I'm just so blessed to just get to spend each and every single day with you, whether it be on the phone, or whether it be on FaceTime. I’m thinking about you while I’m at the field and whatever I’m doing in life. I will not take you for granted, and I will keep doing my absolute best to be the best father figure that I possibly can. There's going to be lots of ups and downs, obviously, of growing up, and just remember that I'll always be by your side and I'll never leave your side.

“The days leading up to you being born, it was every second of every day … ‘When is it going to happen? When are you going to come into this world? Seeing you for the first time was special. I can never describe that to anyone who has not had a daughter or a son yet.

“Anything in life you want, you should want to be the best at it -- whether you're a baseball player or whatever you do in life. Do it, do it with open arms, do it full force, do it to the best of your ability and everything will play out for itself if you have a positive attitude and show up every single day. Create a positive environment, spread joy to people around you.

“Getting hit by that pitch was real. It's something you just got to bounce back from. It's something you know. It happens. Rest, reset and go at it again. If life brings you down a little bit, take some time to think about it, get better at it or just heal.

“Then get back it with open arms and full force. Have fun, spread joy.”