Count Tyler Danish as one of those people who loves their job more than just about anything.
Even if it’s been one of the biggest adjustments of his young life.
Danish, 19, was just promoted to a higher level of competition for the second time since the Chicago White Sox drafted him 55th overall last June.
“I’m enjoying every experience I’m going through,” he says. “It’s exactly what I’ve wanted to do with my life.”
Coming straight out of high school, Danish was used to a much smaller season schedule, fewer travel burdens and a daily routine with homework and other studies peppered in. These days, it’s all baseball, all the time.
A DIFFERENT BALLGAME
It’s a Thursday afternoon, around 4 p.m. — the only time slot that Danish really has available to speak to the press, at least for 20 minutes. After that, he’ll have to go play catch and get loose — even though he’s not starting that night.
That’s what he says has been one of the biggest adjustments: getting used to the frequency of the pro games. Because these guys are constantly on the road, traveling from city to city by bus and hotel-hopping on a regular basis, they have to keep on a tight schedule to make sure that everything flows as smoothly as they need it to.
“We’re on a seven-day road trip right now,” Danish says. “After tonight’s game, we jump on the bus and head two hours north. It’s like this every day. We get in at 7:30 a.m., and we’ll have to play that night. It’s a lifestyle that you’ll want to have to do because, if not, you’re not going to enjoy being on a bus for 10 hours.”
And, there’s the repetition of the schedule. Back at Durant, Danish was used to seeing only a few teams more than once a season — all of the district opponents. Maybe that happened twice a season, or three times if the Cougars would get a second rematch in the playoffs. Nowadays, he could be seeing the same team in three consecutive nights.
So, as a 19-year-old starting pitcher, he’s tackling it the only way he knows how. And, it seems to be working.
“I still go at it the same way I did in high school,” Danish says. “Being so young, being on top of the leaderboards, it’s a really cool experience. In high school, I was top dog wherever I went. Here, there are a bunch of guys knocking on the door of the bigs, and I’m up there among the league leaders.”
MAKING WAVES
As soon as Danish got to the minor leagues, he got hot. He spent just under two months with the ChiSox’s Bristol, Va.-based affiliate after the draft, posting a 1.38 ERA and 22 strikeouts in that time. He was then promoted to the Class-A Kannapolis Intimidators, where he ended the 2013 season with another 0.00 ERA.
Beginning this season in Kannapolis, N.C., Danish improved greatly. His 0.71 ERA was second in all of Minor League Baseball at the time of his promotion, May 15. He’s now in Winston-Salem, N.C., with the Class A-Advanced Dash.
“The thing about the Dash is — when I got promoted to Kannapolis last year, this is almost the same exact team I went to last year,” Danish says. “It was like going from one team to another team I already played with. Same manager as when I got promoted, and I’ve worked with the pitching coach all year. Being around the same guys as before really helps with the transition.”
The competition, though, has been stiffer. In his first start for the Dash, May 18, against the Frederick Keys, Danish gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings before being pulled. He fared a little better on May 24, giving up just one run and four hits against the Lynchburg HillCats. The Dash won both games, but Danish did not pick up either decision.
Everybody goes through a slump at some point, which is why Danish isn’t worried about either outing. Plus, if he ever needs good advice, he can get it straight from the majors now.
“I spoke with (White Sox catcher) Tyler Flowers a lot, because we have the same agent,” Danish says. “He’s a really cool guy. Getting to know him was awesome, because I got to pick his brain.”
He’s hoping to spend some more time with the ChiSox come Spring Training, where he’d love to meet staff ace Chris Sale — a guy to whom he was compared around the time of the 2013 Draft.
For Danish, the ends — getting into the majors — will justify the arduous travel schedules, the mid-season team switches, and all of the other means that come with being a minor-leaguer.
“It’s what I wanted to do with my life,” he says. “So, I cant complain.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
TYLER’S TRAVELS
Having spent his minor league career based in Virginia and North Carolina, Danish is used to traveling mainly around the East Coast. Two trips, in particular, stuck out to him for reasons outside of the ballpark.
“Last year, we went to Lakewood, N.J., and went up to the Jersey Shore — where they filmed the MTV show,” he says. “We saw the shore house and where everything was filmed.”
But, a simple trip to the beach seemed to do more for him than seeing the now-infamous beach house.
“Ocean City, Md., was really cool,” he says. “We spent the day at the beach. You see beaches in Florida all the time, but being on a beach in the Northeast brought back memories of home. In North Carolina, you’re playing every day and don’t really have a lot of time to go to the beach.”