When Chandler Pollard stepped into the batter’s box in Rome, Georgia in mid-August, he was greeted with cheers. For the first time as a Spartanburger, Pollard was playing about an hour north of his hometown of Winston. His entire extended family was in the crowd, except one member of the more immediate circle was missing: his brother Chase.
“He had practice,” said Chandler.
Pollard is one of many Spartanburgers with a brother also infatuated with America’s Pastime. While one family member spends nights and weekends chasing their dreams of professional baseball, the others soak it in and use those learned lessons to further their own success. Older brothers are catch partners turned teachers, passing along their knowledge to the next sibling on the rise.
The Martin family consists of a long line of ballplayers. Grandfather Neil played a season for the Tri-City Braves; dad Chad played at Lower Columbia College in Washington and Texas State before pursuing bodybuilding.
“I came out of the womb playing,” joked Hub City outfielder Maxton Martin.
When Maxton was 11, he watched his older brother Mason, a 17th round pick by the Pirates, turn pro directly after high school. Mason’s career took off when he entered Pittsburgh’s system. He won Gulf Coast League MVP in 2017, launched 35 home runs with the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2019 and spent three seasons with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. Big brother’s success made Maxton's decision to sign with Rangers six years later much easier.
“He opened up a lot of doors for me — scouts would talk to me about him,” said Maxton. “I asked him a lot of questions throughout the entire process.”
The older Martin just finished his first season in Mexico and is headed to Venezuela this offseason to play winter league baseball for Tigres de Aragua. Mason and Maxton still train together every offseason back in Washington, lifting weights, hitting and bouncing ideas off one another.
Similar to the Martins, baseball runs in the blood of the Figuereo family. Hub City third baseman Gleider Figuereo and his younger brother Breyner both grew up under the watchful eye of their father Victor, who signed with the Rangers in 2002 and pitched for three years in Texas’s system, reaching Single-A short season Spokane before returning to the Dominican Republic. Victor and former big league pitcher Edinson Volquez mentored Gleider, who became the first position player to sign with an MLB team from Volquez’s baseball academy.
“My dad wanted to be a hitter, but he had other skills,” Figuereo told MLB.com in 2023. He took me to Volquez because Volquez expressed interest in wanting to start training hitters.”
The youngest Figuereo’s journey hasn’t been as simple. Breyner went through the same steps as Gleider, training with Volquez and signing with the Cubs as an international free agent in 2025 to play outfield. After struggling in his first season (.192 batting average in 40 games played), Breyner was released. During the offseason, he decided to follow his father’s footsteps as a pitcher. Videos soon surfaced of the southpaw firing 97 mile-per-hour fastballs. The Rangers, given the Figuereo track record, inked Breyner to a contract, giving him a second chance at a baseball career from a brand-new perspective.
Gleider has become his brother’s biggest cheerleader, sharing highlights on social media and celebrating Breyner’s successes with his fellow Spartanburgers. Breyner was named a Dominican Summer League All-Star this past season after averaging 17 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
Esteban Mejia is wrapping up his fourth year of professional baseball, and he has taken on a similar mentor role for his younger brother Emanuel, who recently completed his first season in the DSL with the Rockies. Similar to the Figuereos, Esteban is an infielder, and Emanuel is a pitcher.
“He’s going to live with me in the Dominican (this winter), and we are going to train,” said Esteban, who spent this offseason working on his strength and mobility. “If he doesn’t love to work, that may be a problem... I love to work.”
As tireless as Esteban may be in the weight room, he is very focused on helping his younger brother build his intrinsic fortitude as well.
“He’s got talent,” said Mejia. “But more important than talent is his mentality. He has to keep it right.”
Chandler Pollard’s younger brother Chase hasn’t hit draft day just yet. Chase has yet to step on a high school baseball field, but he’s already following in his brother’s footsteps. Chandler was a participant in the MLB Develops Hank Aaron Invitational in 2021, and Chase took part in the event this summer.
“He plays all over the diamond just like I do, and he’s a much better hitter than I was at that age.” said Pollard with a grin. “He still couldn’t beat me in a race though.”
Brothers will be brothers, right?