Sam Huff has more raw power than any catching prospect and perhaps as much as anyone in the Minors. A 2016 seventh-round pick from an Arizona high school, he has lots of strength and leverage in his 6-foot-4 frame and an aggressive approach. That all combines to produce the highest exit velocities in the Rangers system since Joey Gallo, not to mention 28 homers between two Class A levels last year and a dramatic game-tying home run that earned him MVP honors at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.

MLB.com: The Futures Game home run last year, big moment, national TV -- is that the highlight of your career to this point? Were you thinking home run in the last inning, down by two with a runner on base?

Huff: To be honest, I thought it was just another inning. I thought we were playing nine rather than seven because I'm used to thinking nine. I didn't have any other thought process, just tried to keep it relaxed. I was looking for a fastball and [Rockies lefty Ben Bowden] threw me a first-pitch changeup. Next pitch, I was looking more heater so I was more on time with the fastball, and if he threw me another offspeed I was going to have to lay off it. It was crazy. I didn't really have any emotions, I didn't try to do anything, just trying to hit the ball on the barrel. I wasn't trying to do too much.

MLB.com: That was about eight months ago now. How often do people bring up the home run and tell you they saw it?

Huff: I've talked to a bunch of people who've asked me about it. I'd go work out at my old high school or I'd hit at Grand Canyon, where I was committed to go, and guys would ask me what that felt like, what were you expecting after that or before. I keep telling them the same thing. That day, I was just happy to talk to everybody, whether it ranged from our staff, [Jim] Thome and [Sean] Casey, Ken Griffey Jr., shaking his hand and getting to meet him during BP, Harold Reynolds. Then the next thing I know, Ken Griffey Jr. was telling me, "You're going to do something big here, you're going to hit a bomb, I feel it." So was Sean and Thome. They were all telling me we have a feeling you're going to do something big at this moment. I wasn't trying to let it get to me. I was just trying to stay present with that at-bat. I come in, and everyone is screaming, "I told you so! I told you so!" It's crazy because as a player, you're just happy to be there. You wouldn't expect to be there, you're just soaking it in and then next moment, you're the MVP of the Futures Game and you hit a home run.

MLB.com: Coming out of high school, you had a big senior season and led the state of Arizona with 14 home runs. How much of a decision was it, pro ball versus attending Grand Canyon?

• Rangers preseason prospect overview | Rangers Top 30 Prospects

Huff: I was pretty sold on I wanted to play. The Rangers gave me an opportunity in the seventh round in '16. I thought, I could risk it and go to college and I could have maybe been a higher Draft pick but I could have been lower, you don't know. Baseball gave me the opportunity early, so I took the seventh round. It was a cool moment for me. I called [Grand Canyon coach Andy Stankiewicz] and said, "I'm going to take it." He said, "Sam, don't hesitate. This is your career. I fully support you. I'm not going to be mad at you. It's what you want to do and I think you should take it as well." So it was cool to have that support from Stanky, telling me I'll still support you and your family even if you don't come here.

MLB.com: In your first year in pro ball, you hit .330 with one home run in the Rookie-level Arizona League. I know it was only 28 games, but one home run for you seems kind of light. The next year, you hit nine home runs in the same league and you've been hitting for power ever since. Did you make any changes after your first year to go to more of a power approach or was that more natural?

Huff: That offseason, I was like 220, 6-foot-4 and 220, just a twig so I wanted to put weight on. All my life I hit with my hands, I was a line-drive hitter, I never tried to hit for power. My senior year, I started seeing it. I got up to 215, 220, more muscle and then I improved a little more. But when I got drafted, it was like I really need to understand myself as a player toward my body and what I need to do to maintain it. So I really wanted to put on a bunch of weight, so I put on up to 235. I started holding weight better, I started hitting for more power. I didn't really want to change anything, it was just me physically getting bigger. Now that I look at it, I look back and I'm 245, 250 now and it's crazy to think how long it took me to really understand myself as a player and what my body can handle and not handle throughout a 140-game season. It's very hard, it's long, catching gets to you, you hit every day, show up to the field after long bus rides, it's a grind. But if you can physically understand what you can do, it makes it a little easier every day.

MLB.com: How much better offensively and defensively do you think you are now than when you first got into pro ball four years ago?

Huff: I feel like overall I've improved a bunch, catching especially. This Spring Training, I was starting to do the one-knee stuff. I've always been a traditional two knees up. Now I can really get down on a knee and block there. I just started working with Hector [Ortiz] and [Don] Wakamatsu [two former big league catchers and current Rangers coaches], talking with Robby Chirinos, Jose Trevino -- we've got all these guys with information. They show me the numbers and watching video of J.T. Realmuto, seeing how they do their stuff, this Spring Training I've seen improvement with my catching. It was very exciting for me as a player because people don't think I'm a catcher. Me showing my numbers being a lot better when I'm on one knee, and switching and blocking and receiving, throwing, overall helping the pitcher out any way I could, was really exciting. I've gotten so many comments from people like, "You're going to be a first baseman one day." I look at them and I personally want to be a catcher. That's my goal and I'm going to do whatever I can to show everyone I'm a catcher. I want to be the best catcher in baseball. However I'm going to do that with my size, I'm going to do my best and give my best. I'm going to show the pitchers I'm going to put in the effort, the game-calling research on other players, having a plan for them. Talking to Robby with game-calling and Jeff Mathis, Jose -- a bunch of knowledge. This Spring Training, I was so excited even though I got sent down earlier than I wanted to because I wanted to learn more, I still learned so much just being up there and picking everyone's brain.

From the hitting side, learning myself as a hitter, knowing what to swing at, what not to swing at, having an approach, sticking with it. You talk about the best hitters in the game, they stick with their approach: [Nolan] Arenado, [Mike] Trout, the list goes on, [Christian] Yelich, [Cody] Bellinger. I got to talk to Cody a little bit this offseason. It's cool to talk to guys like that and kind of pick their brain. Even if they go 0-for-that day, they're not going to go away from their plan just because they have one bad day.

MLB.com: What do you see as the strengths in your game and what do you think needs the most work?

Huff: I feel I hit the ball very well for power, I try to. I feel like overall, as cliché as it sounds, I want everything to get better. I want to learn all the time, I want everything to improve. Once you stop learning, you're probably not going to be in baseball for long. I talk to guys, I talk to Robby Chirinos, he's still learning. That gives you an idea of how baseball works. You're always learning and figuring out what you should be doing overall as a player. There should not be a day where you're not learning.

MLB.com: With everything in limbo with the coronavirus, how are you trying to stay prepared when the baseball season does resume?

Huff: I'm lucky enough that when I was a kid, my dad built a cage in the backyard. I bought a pitching machine a while ago and I do all my catching back there. It's been pretty much the best purchase I've ever made in my life, the machine. Just having the cage there, I can go to my parents' house and no one can bother me. I have my baseballs, my tee, I have routines. I talk with Cody [Atkinson], our hitting guy on the Minor League side, I talk to Luis [Ortiz, big league hitting coach], I talk to [assistant big league hitting coach Callix] Crabbe, I talk to everybody. I just kind of let them know what I'm doing. Catching, I try to work on all the things: receiving, changing my knees, changing up timing, doing certain situations. I still catch bullpens for guys if they want to get that full feel. Sometimes I'll put the machine on and catch nine innings, like a simulated game to give my legs a workout.