Baker's long and winding road to first All-Star team -- of any kind

ST. PETERSBURG -- Before the gratitude set in, before he even shared the news with his wife and parents, the first thing Bryan Baker felt when he learned he’d been named to the American League All-Star team was shock.

“Definitely not something that I expected coming into the year or anything like that,” Baker said. “It’s a pleasant surprise, for sure.”

It’s all new for Baker. He’s been playing professional baseball since 2016, and this is his first time making an All-Star team at any level.

The 31-year-old right-hander didn’t exactly emerge from obscurity, but it’s fair to say he’ll be the AL-leading Rays’ most improbable representative when he lines up at Citizens Bank Park alongside Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Drew Rasmussen.

“It’s just very unlikely and kind of crazy how it happened,” Baker said.

Here are four things that led to Baker becoming the Rays’ All-Star closer.

1. A humbling beginning
How many All-Stars can say their journey began with a terrible Spring Training?

Selected by the Rockies out of the University of North Florida in the 11th round of the 2016 Draft, Baker made his professional debut as a starter for the Rookie-level Grand Junction Rockies. He was expected to serve the same role in ‘17, but he didn’t break camp in the rotation.

“I don’t think I was prepared for my first Spring Training,” Baker said, laughing. “I was spraying the ball all over the place, not throwing very hard. Nothing really good came out of it.”

Not immediately, anyway. Now, he realizes it was a blessing in disguise.

Baker said the assignment served as a “wake-up call,” and he immediately discovered that a reliever’s mentality suited him better. He no longer needed to reserve his energy or his best pitches. The late-game adrenaline fueled him. He found success -- and a new role.

“I was like, ‘Man, I feel like I probably should have been a reliever a long time ago,’” he said.

2. An athletic upbringing
Baker’s stuff and athleticism were never in question.

He grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., playing every imaginable sport. He was raised in a sports-loving family, even watching Tampa Bay’s games on TV -- "one channel up from ESPN,” he recalled -- and visiting Tropicana Field for a pair of Pitch, Hit & Run competitions. He worked out in the garage with his grandfather, Ed, a center and linebacker for Auburn University in the 1950s.

“A pretty rugged individual,” Baker said, smiling. “I was lucky to be able to learn a lot and play a lot of sports with him.”

Basketball was the 6-foot-6 Baker’s first love, and it laid the foundation for the athletic ability that allowed him to take off when he found his calling as a reliever.

3. Drafting a trade
After tweaking his changeup grip two days before Spring Training began, Baker surfaced as an intriguing trade candidate for the underperforming Orioles last summer.

Meanwhile, the Rays were desperately seeking bullpen help, and president of baseball operations Erik Neander had an enticing chip at his disposal: a tradeable Competitive Balance Round A Draft pick. The Orioles were interested, and the looming Draft spurred an earlier-than-usual deal on July 10.

It wasn’t an easy decision -- Neander jokingly walked into that day’s pre-Draft meeting with the scouting staff wearing a Virginia Tech helmet, for protection -- but they felt Baker was worth it.

“The changeup and the progression of that pitch's development, we felt like it gave Bake the chance to be a really good reliever for a few years ahead,” Neander said. “In our opinion, he was the best reliever that was available to us with the pick.”

The Orioles used the No. 37 pick on outfielder Slater de Brun, who wound up joining the Rays in the Shane Baz trade five months later.

As for Baker?

“Looking back on it now, it’s probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” he said.

4. Closing time
There’s another unlikely element of Baker’s development into an All-Star closer: The Rays weren’t even supposed to have a closer this season.

Their plan to deploy a four-headed, high-leverage unit unraveled when Edwin Uceta reported to Spring Training with a right shoulder injury, Garrett Cleavinger was banged up early and Griffin Jax struggled before making a successful move to the rotation.

That left Baker alone at the end of games, where save opportunities kept coming his way and he kept coming through. In his first 38 appearances, he racked up 25 saves with a 1.73 ERA and a .150 opponents’ average. He challenges hitters with his fastball and changeup, channeling all his energy into big outs and bigger celebrations.

“The attributes that drew us to him in the first place, they found their way to the surface and really shined through,” Neander said. “He's comfortable, and we've just been getting the absolute best out of him.”

He may not have seen this coming, but he’s earned it.

“He's pitched like an All-Star for us all season long,” manager Kevin Cash said.