Day To Day With Former Vanderbilt Baseball Star JJ Bleday

Former Vandy star training at home in anticipation for the return of baseball.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Spring training was going quite well for JJ Bleday.

The former Vanderbilt star and No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft began the 2020 preseason with the Miami Marlins’ big-league roster, starting the first game of camp in right field.

And even though he had just been sent back to the minor league faction of the organization on that fateful day in March when everything changed, his confidence was high and his anticipation for a full season of professional baseball was palpable.

So when Major League Baseball shut down due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, Bleday’s disappointment was understandable.

“I was kind of frustrated, honestly, because we put so much work in in the offseason in getting ready for this in making sure you’re prepared,” he said. “And you’re confident enough to go out and have a good season and then this delays this. You got to restart and do all that work again which is a frustrating time.

“Then again, another mindset, too, is, ‘Alright this is a big situation, a global situation and right now we all just got to get healthy.’ Another side of me was just, ‘We’re all in it together, we just got to get this over with and then just get back ASAP.’ ”

Bleday, 22, had hit .231 in 13 at-bats for Miami this spring before being sent down to the minor leagues. The outfielder was expected to begin 2020 in Class-A Advanced Jupiter or maybe even Double-A Jacksonville.

Instead, he’s back home in Panama City Beach, Florida, with his family.

“I wake up, have a good breakfast, do a little yoga routine and then do some light baseball work, like a toned-down spring training,” he said about living without team baseball. “You don’t want to be overdoing it right now, especially when we don’t know this is going to be over with. So it’s just taking it easy, making sure you’re lifting weights and staying strong and trying to get better with the fundamentals as best you can.

“Not everyone has the opportunity to get out right now. Luckily I’m blessed enough to have good weather and have baseball fields all over. I’m able to actually get out and do something.”

Considered the No. 28 overall prospect in MLB by MLB Pipeline, Bleday put together one of the more memorable individual seasons in recent Vanderbilt history in 2019. He was named first-team All-American by six different organizations, recognized as the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Tournament MVP and was a Golden Spikes Award finalist.

Bleday set the program’s single-season record with 27 home runs, scored 82 runs, drove in 72 and led the nation with 192 total bases. He also helped lead Vandy to its second national title when the Commodores took 2 of 3 games from Michigan in Omaha, Nebraska, in June.

And when that was all over? Well he did what any college student-athlete whose career has just ended would do – he had his mom come to campus to help him move out of his dorm room.

“Then I came back down here to Panama City Beach and kind of just bunkered down here for a couple weeks and gave my body a little break and enjoyed all the success and kind of reflected what we had accomplished,” he said. “Sometimes you got to sit back and take a deep breath in those situations because of what happened.”

Bleday officially signed with Miami in July and from there departed for Jupiter, Florida, where he played 38 games for the Jupiter Hammerheads and hit .257 with three home runs and 19 RBIs. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Pennsylvania then went through a typical offseason of training, rest and instruction before reporting back for duty in February.

Along the way he developed stronger relationships with the growing number of former Commodores in MLB, he said, including Dansby Swanson, Curt Casali, Tony Kemp and Mike Yastrzemski. They were continuing to help him prepare for life in the big leagues and they were all – like Bleday – keeping one eye on the Commodores who were 18 games into the 2020 season.

Bleday said he hurt most for 2020 seniors Harrison Ray and Ty Duvall.

“That’s such a bummer because they’re in a situation where they wanted to come back, they wanted to get their degree and get another chance to get drafted,” Bleday said. “Hopefully things pan out and this comes back around and they’re able to get an opportunity because they’re phenomenal baseball players and great teammates. To me, they deserve that chance.”

As Bleday waits for the return of baseball, he’s trying to stay occupied these days by staying active with his brother Adam Bleday (a player development coach for the Baltimore Orioles) and watching classic MLB games on television while visualizing himself in those high-pressure situations. The Bleday family is also in constant contact with Jennifer Bleday, JJ and Adam’s sister who is a nurse in Macon, Georgia, helping on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19.

Until that fight is won, Bleday will continue to do what he’s been doing in an effort to be at full-speed once all systems are go.

“My mindset these next few weeks is just staying healthy, making sure I follow precautions here just to stay safe. Then just keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “Keep visualizing success, keep visualizing what I want to do on a daily basis which is get better and try to maintain what I’ve been doing and enjoy time with family.

“Once this over with it’s going to busy, busy, busy – so just taking it day by day.”

NOTE: Content courtesy Vanderbilt Athletics-Chad Bishop

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