Collin Baumgartner has had quite the journey since graduating high school in 2017. While pitching for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Collin quickly became an MLB draft prospect. Before the 2021 season, Collin suffered a partially torn UCL. This lead to Tommy John surgery and sitting out the 2021 season. This also squashed a lot of talks he already began having with MLB organizations about the possibility of selecting him in the draft.
Collin just finished his final year of eligibility at Kansas University. Having experienced Power 5 baseball at a school like KU is something he'll never forget.
Throughout the episode, Collin talks about the importance of family. During his injury and recovery, Collin leaned on family a lot, and got to spend more time with them because he was sidelined. He also began to come into his own as an adult and started forming an identity outside of sports. Sports had so long been what the center of his life was, and the injury helped him form an identity that didn't surround itself with sports.
He talks about leadership styles and how he's always been a lead-by-example type of guy. Regardless of styles, Collin knows that in order for people to follow your lead, they must respect you first. Respect and trust is formed through genuine encounters.
This is a great conversation, and we wish Collin the best in his future endeavors. He is, currently, as of July 9, heading to law school at Saint Louis University. There is a possibility he's selected in this year's MLB draft in which we will be watching closely in case we hear his name called.
