As part of MLBPipeline.com's visit to all 30 Spring Training facilities, we'll be sitting down with prospects and getting to know them a little better. At Blue Jays camp, it was No. 2 prospect Sean Reid-Foley.
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Sean Reid-Foley was the Blue Jays' second-round selection out of the Florida high school ranks in the 2014 Draft. He repeated Class A ball in 2016 and took a big step forward, leading the organization in WHIP and batting average against, while finishing second in ERA and strikeouts. Reid-Foley is now the organization's No. 2 prospect and No. 64 on the overall Top 100 list.
MLBPipeline.com: No one ever wants to repeat a level, but for you, it was beneficial. What was your initial reaction to having to go back to Lansing? And how did you come to embrace it for the opportunity it turned out to be?
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Reid-Foley: The first thing I'd like to say is that it was the best thing that ever happened to me, to get sent back. When it really started clicking was when I bought in to what was going on. I quit being stubborn about it. I looked at it as another opportunity to get better and figure out what I needed to do to get back to Dunedin. The biggest thing was I focused more throughout the whole season.
MLBPipeline.com: You worked a lot with your pitching coach in Lansing, Jeff Ware, who is now the organization's pitching coordinator. How was he able to help you?
Reid-Foley: My two pitching coaches last year, they were all about getting [me to] where I can repeat everything without thinking about it. The delivery was there, I just had to get more consistent in throwing strikes. I came into instructs saying I wanted to use this delivery, this windup, and they said, "That's great. Now just work on it and make sure it's fine-tuned." I'm still using the same mechanics and windup. They've been really good about asking for my feedback. I was with Jeff for parts of the past three years and he's always been in my back pocket, and he still is. It's good. He's fun to work with, and he's doing a great job in his new position as coordinator.
MLBPipeline.com: How excited are you with the potential of leaving A ball behind you and reaching the upper levels of the system?
Reid-Foley: I can't really control that. Obviously, it's in the back of my head, but at the same time, I have to go and be the same person day in and day out. If my days in A ball are done, then good. If not, then it's OK. The only way you can move is if you pitch. You can't look at it as a bad thing, being sent back to a level or being stuck at a level. Maybe you need to figure something out. That's what I had to do last year in Lansing, become a leader and figure how to consistently throw strikes.
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MLBPipeline.com: You were born in Guam. Your parents were in the military? What was it like growing up in a military family?
Reid-Foley: My dad was in the Coast Guard. I was 11 months old when we left. Then I was about 3 1/2 or 4 when we moved from Brunswick, Ga., to Florida. My parents say Guam is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's one of my goals to go back there. Obviously, it's hot, the water is crystal clear. After my dad got sent to Mayport, he got a job offer three or four years later to go up to Cape May, N.J. By then, me and my three siblings were already in school, and my parents felt they shouldn't move us. My mom told my dad to go pursue it, but we're not coming. It was tough on him, because he was up there for two years, then he came back. I thought it was awesome because we were always on ships on the weekend. I thought it was fun. It's weird because my dad is a water person, but he's not. We don't have a boat or anything. Now he works at a national park and they asked him if he wanted to run the boats and he said, "No, I'm good."
MLBPipeline.com: I have to ask you about the mustache. You probably get more attention for that on social media than anything else. What's the story there?
Reid-Foley: It goes back to my dad. That's what he had when he was in the Coast Guard. I thought that maybe if he has a good one, then I have one. It's nowhere close to his. I won't tell you my secrets on how I grow it. He messes with me all the time, telling me it looks bad. I thought that might look good because my dad looks good with it. I like it, but everyone messes with me in the clubhouse about it.