Top MLB draft prospects shaping the future of baseball

I've been ranked the number one player in the country for the class of 2024. I feel like it leaves a target on my back, but I kind of like it because I get everyone's best and it pushes me to give my best every single time, so I do like it. If he keeps progressing at this rate, then the goal, top 10 in the draft, top 10 overall. Work-wise and clearly ability-wise, he's above a lot of these kids. My name is Derek Curiel, I'm 16 years old, and this is No Days Off. Being able to know that I have a Division 1 scholarship to go play at a school like LSU, a Power 5 school, is really, really cool. But also, it helps me keep moving forward because I know that there's other commits there that are going to want my spot. So I know that I'm going to have to fight for it, so I just know I have to get better all the time. And I feel like it drives me because I see them play in front of 14,000 fans, and I'm like, dang, I want to be the star there day one when I get there as a freshman. By the time he was two years old, he was swinging the bat. My husband would soft toss our son in the garage, and Derek would always just get the bat and just start swinging, put the big old helmet on, and he started at a very young age. Baseball is something that's in my family and my veins, so it just grew on to me, and ever since I can remember, I've had a bat in my hand and been throwing the ball. He started catching initially, and then from there he pitched, and then he played some first base at a young age. Now he plays center field because he is a lefty lefty. Forward is Curiel and he makes a diving catch out left center. In baseball, I mean, it's the sport where you fail the most. And I think that it's the hardest sport because you have to bounce back from those failures and I feel like I do a good job with that. And I think just the reward is just so like, I just love it. Derek, what's up? What's up, Joe? I met my trainer Joe about three months ago. I've been weight training for about two years now. I was at a different workout place, but now I'm with Joe and Reroute. The first thing I noticed is how polite he was, how humble he was for, you know, a guy of his stature and where he's at in his ranking. So Derek plays at a local high school, which is not far from here, and his family reached out. They were looking for a place for him to train, and I knew that with Joe and Reroute that we had the connection that they needed to really be able to take his game to the next level. We've been training athletes of all sports, not just big leaguers, NFL players, pro tennis players, NBA players. So we've gotten a pretty good track record in the industry of doing good work with these pro players. A little slower, not so quick. Having him around a lot of the professional guys that are here when he trains, I think really pushes him. We have a few guys from the New York Mets, a couple guys from the LA Angels. We've got some Detroit Tigers. There's a myriad of people. He comes every day before school Which is pretty impressive because you know most kids don't want to wake up that early, but he comes in here He's here 7 a.m. Every single day Monday Wednesday Friday, and we get after it. The goal with him is just to keep putting on muscle Mass, you know he's tall and he has a thinner frame, but you know over time just with age He's gonna fill out, but we can kind of accelerate it with the strength training. We're doing let's explode up on it. We do a lot of of explosive drills in my training because I mean baseball is an explosive sport you gotta you gotta throw hard you gotta move your hips and you gotta run fast there's a lot of tools that come into playing baseball so this is a Proteus machine so the Proteus machine is a 3D resistance machine meaning it's pretty much the only machine in the whole world that you can get resistance at every single range of motion that you bring it through I've seen me gain seven pounds in muscle mass and I've seen just the ball jump off my bat a little bit different because I had a couple more pounds on me I mean a little bit of weight can do a lot of things so I've been feeling faster quicker my body feels good and that's the progress I've seen. As far as being his father and training with Derek I pretty much just do the live throwing and batting practice to him just to keep his swing locked in. When you compare kids that come in here It's very easy to see somebody like Derek stand out, not even talent-wise, which is way above everybody else, but work ethic-wise, drive-wise. He's focused when he's here. It's yes sir, no sir with everything. There's no complaining. It's no, oh, I don't want to do this today. It's just, what do we have? Let's get to work. And sometimes these high-rated guys, they think they don't have to do too much. It's like, ah, I don't got to do too much anymore. I can just kind of go through the motions. I'm going to be fine. And we don't run into that with Derek at all. So his work ethic has been wonderful. What I'm most proud of with Derek with baseball is that he's able to juggle being an athlete and a student at the same time and putting in the hard work in the classroom and on the field and training. He gives max effort in everything he does. Balancing school and sports is a grind. I mean just to go on the field and play five hours a day and then training two hours a day and then doing schoolwork six hours a day at school and then you have to do homework at home and then you have to eat it's just all a grind but honestly my family helps me a lot and I love them for that. He's put in the hard work you know since he was little I mean I think his mindset is stronger than anything and he's so driven and and such a competitor at heart. The challenge for him right now is just with all this hype it's like everywhere you go every game you play you have to live up to the hype you live up to the hype live up to the hype. I've learned to deal with all the hype outside the field and now it's just all noise and I've been preparing to play baseball my whole life so I feel like there's no need for me to be nervous when I'm out there on the baseball field because it's something I love and I've learned to slow my heart rate down and just keep my nerves level and my family has helped me with that so I'm just ready to play all the time He's a winner, you know, and we do see him going to college, winning World Series, and, you know, eventually ending up getting drafted, which is the dream, you know. But in all honesty, this is a dream right now. Like, we're living the dream right now as a family. What's next for me is with my high school team. I'm looking forward to hopefully winning three CIF championships this next three years, going to LSU for three years, and then going to the MLB draft. Yeah, that's the plan. So hopefully we can stick on that. The way I look at it, it's not just Derek with No Days Off. It's like the whole team. And we call ourselves Team Curiel. My wife, our daughter, Donovan, and myself, us five, is the team. And it takes all of us to keep this situation going. You know, every morning from the moment we wake up at 5 a.m. until we go to bed. No Days Off means exactly that. It's a grind. You gotta have fun with it because, I mean, the journey is really cool, just like Kobe said. He said that the journey is the most fun part rather than the end goal. So, honestly, I soak it in like those times where, like, you're like, dang, do I really want to go work out? Like, yes, you want to go work out. And I want to do it because I know it's going to get me better. This is probably the best baseball season I've ever had. He was always competitive. He plays so hard. He's got speed. He's got quickness. He's got agility. He's got it all. It's big league arm strength right now at this age. There's only one problem with Connor. I can't keep up with his arm. For a guy to have the type of skill set he has is very, very rare. He wants to be the best. He knows what it takes to be the best, and that's what he's pursuing. My name's Connor Griffin, and I play baseball. I got into baseball when I was about five or six years old. Playing tee ball and my dad getting me in the sport and been playing it ever since. Baseball kind of runs in the family. My older brother and my little brother, they both play baseball. I started pitching when I was about 10 years old. What I love most about pitching is just controlling the game and just being that guy on the mound and just the pace of the game just goes by what you do. My greatest skill on the baseball field is probably my speed because I can track down fly balls in the outfield and then I can make any play close like on a slow ground ball. I've always kind of thrown hard. I throw 92 to 93 and I've topped out at 95. The way I stay motivated is by bringing the game back to when I was a little kid and it being a kid's game. Having fun and just playing every game like it's my last. Here we go, let's get loose. He's ready to be at the next level. He's a five-tool player, he can do it all. He also has exceptional power at the plate. He can throw, he can hit for contact, he can hit for power. Very good, really good barrel path, way to stay down on the turn. I work with Josh Domani. He really helps me figure out hitting from a mental standpoint. Trying to help me take pitches, just one pitch at a time. When we practice with Connor, we have him put on the core velo belt, has a bungee cord attached to the back of it. That helps him get warmed up and there's that resistance you get enough. And then we'll go into our T work. And usually what I do with that is I'll move it around all over the place on him. I'll put it outside, inside, and we'll work on different depths. Work with the heavy balls, good direction, good posture. His talent was incredible at such a young age, but a lot of kids that age, you see kind of an awkward phase where their body hadn't caught up with their ability. that never happened with him. Connor is hungry and humble, and I think honestly that's his greatest asset. He's more team driven than he is individually driven, and that's probably the most impressive thing to me because he cares more about his teammates than he does about himself. I think Connor's drive and passion is what really stands out. He's not afraid to miss something because he's trying to reach his ultimate goal. And it's not always easy for a 15, 16 year old kid to give up something. That's what really makes him successful. He has all the tools he needs to already go to the next level, but bigger and brighter things are in his future. Honestly, I think we put a ball in his hand when he came out of the womb. The competitive fire that he had at a young age was evident. It wasn't just having fun playing it, he wanted to win. He is always the dirtiest one that comes off the field. It's just fun to see somebody who loves the game and has a passion for the game play like he does. The greatest thing that I see out of him as a player is just how hard he plays. And Connor's really talented, but people always recognize him because of his effort and his energy, the respect that he has for the game of baseball, and that's something that we as parents are really proud of. I've played basketball since I was a little kid. We've got a basketball court outside, and we're always competing against each other, just me and my brothers. We're going to play a game of pig, so you go first. For the P, one foot. P.I.G., game over. Game time. This was my first year this past year playing up on the varsity team. I was a young guy at prep. They all took me under their wing and they trusted me to be on the team with them and it was just amazing. It was a heck of a season we had. I knew that he was going to be a leader. What makes Connor so unique is his big frame and his ability to be able to adapt to his body and him knowing what he can do at the plate as well in the field on the mound is a big thing for him. Me and him kind of just came together and we led the team. Knowing that I have somebody that I can trust and they don't feel with me is really special. What Connor's taught me the most, in the athletic side of things especially, is that it's okay to fail because you can always come back and make up for it and work hard the next time out. How he handles other people is just wisdom beyond his years. You can be a great athlete and be humble and treat people kindly. This is where I keep all my trophies or awards. I have the Perfect Game Development 5 Tool Award that I got this past year. I got the Most Outstanding Player this year on my Jackson Prep, I'm really proud of that one. My most memorable trophy is my 13U Select Best Home Run Derby Champion trophy, and it's my favorite. I didn't really expect to go and win the Home Run Derby, and it was one of the best experiences. Over here I got my two gloves, this is my Perfect Game Select Best glove that we got to customize. And then when I play infield and pitch, I use this glove right here. I got a lot of neat wood bats. I like to swing Marucci and the Donut bat. It's probably one of my favorites. It's a really cool type of bat. When I use a metal bat, I use the Easton, the B5. This is one of my favorite bats to swing. On this side of the room, I have my USA jersey and my 14U SelectFest jersey. This USA jersey right here, it's just an honor to receive this after making the 15U national team. That's one of the biggest achievements I've had. Some challenges I faced this past season is I actually got hurt running track right before playoffs started for high school baseball. That was kind of a bummer, but I just took the time to let my body rest. By that time, I came back in playoffs. It kind of just all worked out. I was able to overcome that challenge by having a family that supports me. They pushed me to keep working. I don't know if I could have done it mentally without their support. One of my proudest moments is probably making Team USA, the 15U team. It's an honor to play for Team USA and only 15 kids got selected out of the whole country. That was a really good experience for me though, because it just really helped me become a better player. It's a journey. I mean, it is. There's really no playbook. There's no book on just how it works and how it goes because it changes constantly with the draft and college and everything else. I've decided that I'm gonna reclass to the class of 2024. And I'm doing that just so I can help get on college campus earlier. This upcoming fall, I can start taking visits. It's gonna help with that process of choosing a college. I believe that my experience in the college level has been able to help guide him through this whole process. There's always the end goal of getting to the pros, but right now I'm just, I'm taking it one step at a time. I wanna be remembered by being a good baseball player, but also being a humble baseball player. Some of my goals for next year is to make the 18U national team. I just want to compete and just show the coaches that I can be on that team. Also, just to win another state championship with my Jackson Prep baseball team. That would make six in a row, so that would be a pretty cool accomplishment to do. No days off means to me that you're putting in the work every single day, especially when no one's watching. You can always work hard if there's people around watching you, but it's the little things you do. baseball is a sport built off failure but just to stay mentally tough is how you're supposed to keep going he came to me and said dad I want to start working out before school, okay you'll have to get up at 4 30 in the morning and he said I'll do it once he put on the uniform and was on the field he took off and he's never looked back you know kids like that have natural ability and it's a lot easier to coach kids with natural ability it's perfect This is Cade Aaron Beattie, and I play baseball. Keep going. Me and my dad, we try to hit four or five times a week, and we'll throw in some catching, too, but that varies when he travels out of town. Cade and I have spent a lot of time together, and even when I travel out of town, we spend a lot of time on the phone talking through things. We look at videos together. What I love about baseball is just the competitiveness and the atmosphere and the people that you meet. After that, right, we'll go through. We'll start out with 40 pounds and move our way up. I typically wake up around 4.30 and I try to get to Cisco by 5 a.m. and work out from 5 to 6 a.m. He does a great job of developing a program for the specific sport and the specific athlete. For like my catching, we have a good split between like arms and legs and conditioning. I'll get in to this place, I'll do some stretching, then that will move into some weightlifting and then end it off with conditioning. helps like staying physical and staying strong and like we'll be in the middle of the summer having to play four or five games a day and it'll just keep me strong keep me going throughout the whole day so I don't get tired don't get wearing. So lie down number 20 second hold hands over not under right feet elevated so don't forget to bridge up first squeeze the backside hips up hold 20 seconds. The strength that I'm adding on helps me throw harder helps me hit harder, run faster. This really enhances my game. Squeeze armpit, squeeze elbows. Ten seconds. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, give me six. I coach Cade on our 16-year-old scout team. Cade's always been a good athlete. Even when he first came at 11 years old, you knew he had the tools to play. Cade understands how to fail. You know, he bounces back from failure because this game is a game of failure. He's a lot different he's very mature for his age I mean he's always played up since 11 years old we've always played him up and he understands failure when he overcomes failure like that that gives him a big advantage to the rest of his peers hey less is more less is more there you go just sit on it I play catcher catching is different than any other position because not only are you involved in every single play but you have complete field view and you're an extension of the coach. You have to stay active in every single pitch and you can't take a pitch off. You have to really be like the general of the field and just take charge and really just lead your team. Gotta have a lucky item in the bag, my pink llama queso. Gives me good luck, gives me like plus 10 power. A catcher has got to know exactly what's going on all the time. You got to be in every play. You're touching the ball every play. You got to know you have a feel for your pitchers. You got to know where your fielders are set up and so this is an area that I think Cade excels in. Cade's love for baseball started at a very early age. I grew up playing baseball myself and like most kids we had a bat in his hand when he was two. By the time he was four or five he was really developing and and showing potential. Baseball is is the biggest love and he works hard and he's a good teammate he's an encourager but I would say what makes his mother really proud is his determination and focus his confidence he he works he works hard in everything he does the true love probably started around nine when he got into travel baseball and he was very blessed to have some really good coaches that really strive to teach the game and so I think his love started then and as he continued to get older I knew that he was really serious about the game I gave a lot of credit to my husband once we saw that Cade fell in love and really wanted to learn and he did at an early age Steve worked with him I can't even tell you how many times working I'm getting developing that work ethic mechanics being able to surround myself around such good people and such caring people is just really motivates me to do the best that I can. I stay motivated through just competitiveness. I'm a competitor and I love to compete against high level and that really motivates me to do my best and I'm inspired by the people I surround myself with who have the same goals as me and want to achieve great things. That really motivates and inspires me to just be the best version of myself I can be. Cade is a good person like I said Cade has a great heart. He gets that from his mother and I think that he wants to be most like her in that way. Her heart and her compassion for people. Mixing that up. It's fattening. Huh? It doesn't look as fattening. Oh, it's definitely fattening. But, you know, calories equal gains. Right. So, gotta eat. Family comes first. We work together. We help each other. We encourage each other. We forgive each other. And that overflows to, you know, people he interacts with on the baseball field in school one day he'll be working you know it's being respectful of others for someone looking to start baseball the biggest thing I could say is just have fun have fun and take it slow the baseball journey is one of the best and most fun experiences life has to offer and just taking it slow and really enjoying all the valuable moments is just really big Cade's accomplishments, where he is now, came from just determination and goal setting. Cade determined a long time ago that he wants to be great at this game. He wants to be remembered. He tells me quite often, Dad, when I walk down the street, I want people to know who I am. He sets goals, and he strives for those goals, and when he achieves those goals, he sets new goals. Some personal goals I have is just continuing to develop, getting stronger, getting faster, We're getting faster and just really focusing on my game and how I can develop for the future. Stay away. Let's go. Get your work in. Let's go. Ten more and you're good. We'll go live and then we're done. There you go. No days off means never taking anything for granted. Every day is a gift. I see that in Cade because he remains focused every day. He works out. He does his drills. He goes to school. He takes care of his homework. no days off is working hard every day never giving up