JUPITER, Fla. _ The day the ballplayer decided to become a switch-hitter, Dylan Carlson confidently put a ball on a tee and just began taking lefty hacks. He was 6.
He was at his dad's practice. He always was at dad's practice. Carlson loved being around the Thundering Herd of Elk Grove High in northern California. And this particular day, he watched a lefty hitter hit and decided to do that, too.
Who knows, maybe that day will go down in Cardinal history, like when the erratic young pitcher Stan Musial decided to switch positions or when Garry Templeton decided to flip off the fans or when the Angels decided to draft Alfredo Amezaga with the 401st pick in the 1999 draft, allowing the Cards to select Maple Woods Community College infielder Albert Pujols.
A switch-hitting prized prospect, Carlson could become a St. Louis star. Of course, yes, he has to make it to St. Louis first. That likely will happen this season. It's just a matter of whether he makes the team out of camp or later. Last year in Class AA and Class AAA, he combined for a .914 OPS. And he fared well from both sides of the plate. As a righty, he had a .931 OPS. As a lefty, it was .861.
And there's a cool connection with the 21-year-old Carlson and Cardinals history. And, no _ not talking about how he wears No. 68 in big-league camp, as a young Pujols did.
When Carlson was a boy, his favorite player wasn't, like most youngsters, Derek Jeter. Or Mike Trout (that's how young Carlson is _ it's plausible his favorite player growing up could've been the 28-year-old Angel). Carlson's favorite player was Carlos Beltran, who had two All-Star seasons in St. Louis, 2012 and 2013 _ when Carlson was 13 and 14.
"For me, there weren't too many switch-hitting outfielders," Carlson said. "Growing up, it was just like _ man, this guy. It just felt relatable, the way he played the game. One thing I noticed was that some switch-hitters have different swings from different sides. For him, it looked like they were pretty similar. For me, I feel that my two swings are pretty similar. Watching him was a pretty cool thing."
The last time the Cardinals won the pennant, that 2013 team had a switch-hitting corner outfielder who was a key offensive contributor. Now, that player's big fan could fulfill that exact role the next time the Cardinals win the pennant. That's the team's hope, anyway.
"I was pretty bullish on him from Day 1," said John Mozeliak, the Cards' president of baseball operations, whose team made quite a steal in 2016, drafting Carlson 33rd overall. "And I think when you look at what he's been able to do in his transition, it reminds me a lot almost like a Jack Flaherty. In his first major-league camp (of 2019), you noticed this tall, lean, young guy, and you could see why people viewed something of a bright future. But then all of a sudden, a year later, you see exactly what they were thinking about. And, you know, I think the phrase a lot of times is 'someone goes from boy to man.'"
Because Carlson fell for switch-hitting at a young age, it helped accelerate his progress. His dad made a strategic move when Dylan was around 10. They weren't seeing a lot of lefthanded pitchers face Dylan's youth team, "So I'd make him go right on right, just so he'd get enough at-bats," Jeff Carlson said Monday. "And I always told him that the next-level players are out there putting in the extra time. He was always one of those guys. I'm really proud of him."
This winter, it appeared that Carlson might get a chance to meet his hero. The Mets hired Beltran to be their manager, and the Cards had seven spring training games scheduled against that club. Alas, news broke that Beltran was part of the Astros' sign-stealing scheme, so his managerial career went in the trash can.
Carlson did go two for two in the Cards' spring opener, against the Mets. While he didn't see Beltran, he did see another ballplayer he looked up to. Budding Mets star J.D. Davis is five years older and played for Dylan's dad at Elk Grove High.
And the Cards face the Nationals during Grapefruit League action, and Washington has pitcher David Hernandez in camp. Hernandez, 30, played at Elk Grove.
"Dylan might get a chance to face him," Jeff Carlson said, "and he was his bat boy."
Cards manager Mike Shildt speaks highly of Carlson _ who doesn't in Jupiter? _ and Shildt pointed out the benefits of growing up around a ballpark. He mentioned Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours" theory.
"You just pick up on things," Shildt pointed out, and as we know, 6-year-old Dylan picked up on hitting lefty.
Regardless of what team he's on, Carlson will play the entire 2020 regular season at age 21. He turns 22 on October 23. Perhaps he'll still be playing that time of year _ in the World Series.
