Top-ranked 18-year-old catcher showcases impressive power at the plate

No days off to me means not taking nothing for granted every day, going out there and giving your best, wiping it, coming back the next day and doing it again. He's that kind of kid. He's a leader. He actually leads by example. He's bringing something out of you that you might not even know that's in you. And by him being a catcher, that's what he does with the pitchers and other players on the team. He just likes to win. He's always looking to make himself better. He's a team leader, so you're always going to get better at just being around him. My name is Zion Rose and I play baseball. So today I'm gonna be working on some speed, you know, getting the legs going, getting the hands going. Usually I do three sets of three. So the first set is usually just a warm-up set, nice and light, just so I can get the movement down. Then I move into a weighted jump. This adds a little bit more resistance to the jump. I usually take about 20 pounds. Same thing. I love the game, so I wake up every day trying to get better at it. That's all I really needed, you know, to get up every day and go do what I do. A lot of my trainers don't live here. I don't have them here, but either way, I've definitely always been that type of guy. I don't need nobody to really push me. I can do it on my own because I want to. Leg workouts are very important to the game of baseball. You know, you got to have good flexibility, good strength in the hips, quads. You know, you got speed. every time we swing we're in our legs, throwing you got to be in your legs so it's super important to have strong explosive legs. Being in the catch position I want to be able to have all parts of my legs strengthened. Hamstring raises are one of the best ways to work out the back of your legs. Catching is different from every other position because you're in the game every play, every pitch. You're the only player looking towards the field. It takes a different person I mean we're sitting in the crouch for two hours the whole game every pitch is coming towards you so every play you're in the game it just takes a different type of focus. With football Zion he was he was great at football as well it was just something about football that was rough I just wanted him to play a sport that had less contact. I was worried about concussion and we were buying helmets you know I just don't want him to get hit. We actually sat him down and had a conversation with him he agreed and we went with baseball. Just looking at the long term with football, you know, there's a lot of injuries and stuff and it was a family decision. Football wasn't the best thing. Playing with Zion brings a lot of energy. Being around him, you always laugh. Pushing you to be the best person you can be. Like if you struggle, he'll always be there to pick you up. Really makes you a better player. And Zion's very motivated and motivated to the game of baseball and always push us and the teammates to to be better. Being a catcher, you gotta be able to control the game. So I think just vocally, being able to tell people how to do stuff. Whatever it takes to win, he's gonna do that. He's not letting balls get past him. He's real astute out there and he's always learning. And he's making sure that if a pitcher is not on point, he'll try to bring them back around. And when you play the position that he plays, that's real big. And it's exciting because you're in the play at every moment. And that's one thing that I think he really likes, too. Growing up, my inspiration was probably my brother. I was around him a lot, practiced him a lot with him. Yeah, had a big part of who I am now. I'm kind of like placing the balls in different areas across the plate. And his objective is like, if it's outside, to hit it that way, inside to hit it that way. So that's kind of what we work on. Cyrus is, he's done many, many selfless acts with him. When he gets off work, he'll throw to him. When he's about to go to work, he'll catch with him. He's doing everything it takes to get Zion to the next level. What I've instilled in him, I think, is work ethic and how to be a team leader. He's definitely the hardest-working person in the room, so you're always going to get better just being around him. And every team he goes to, that's why they have the success they do. Just sit back on my leg and come forth. Just working on getting my body moving towards second base, getting some ground towards second base. His decision going to Louisville was very impactful because he did get offered to get drafted, but he decided that he wanted to go to college, get a degree, get an education, and I think that was a very good move. Zion thought he chose college because he felt like he could build his stock up even more with his performance and come out as a higher ranked player. That's kind of what happened is we kind of listened and took everything into consideration and allowed him to make his decision. This was my junior year at Brother Rice. I had a really good year. I got Offensive Player of the Year, All-Catholic League Player of the Year, and then Most Valuable Player my junior year. I did my Super Bowl rings, a little bit, a few trophies from over the years. A lot of these baseballs that are up here are kind of just signed from all American games that I've been in. Sportsmanship Award from Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron and MLB Develops, they're a program that works with MLB trying to, you know, raise the black players in the game. My senior year of high school, again, one of my best experiences overall, one of the best years I've had. I was grateful to be able to have the opportunity to go down there and do that with them. For our senior year, they gave us bats, and then we get to custom make gloves. That's my room, that's my memorabilia. Off to Louisville now, and hopefully we can have more. I got him into yoga, and he started doing it as an exercise, more or less. He kept doing it. He felt good about it, it made him feel good. He makes sure that every day he does something to work on his craft, to work on his body. Anything that has to do with healing, meditating, anything, that's what he does every day. He makes sure that his mental is together just as well as his physical, and I think that that's gonna play a big part in his present and his future. My goals for this year, coming up this season, I think it will be to win Omaha and just have a good time.