Montae Bradshaw spent his first year in the minor leagues out in Arizona, playing for Kansas City's Summer League team. But now, the Patrick Henry Community College product is playing a bit closer to home.
A 38th round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Bradshaw is now with Kansas City’s rookie-affiliate, the Burlington Royals out of Burlington, North Carolina. Being near the West Coast for a year was a nice change, but Bradshaw said he’s glad to be back on the East Coast.
Bradshaw was in town this week playing a four-game series against the Danville Braves.
“I’d never been to the west coast before,” he said prior to Thursday night’s game in Danville. “The change of scenery was good. Arizona is kind of different, way different than the east coast.”
Bradshaw said last year was a good welcome to professional baseball and now he feels much more comfortable being in Burlington. It’s not only closer to home, but it’s his second year in pro baseball.
People are also reading…
“My first year in Arizona, baseball wise, I was just trying to get adjusted to everything, used to the pitching, just the everyday routine,” Bradshaw said. “I got used to it pretty quick… then to come out here I’m kind of used to it.”
Burlington is obviously much closer to Bradshaw’s hometown in Prince George, Virginia, but the field the Royals play at is also a familiar one to the former Patriot.
“We played in Burlington for the (Region X) tournament, so I’m used to the field. Everything is going good so far,” he said.
It’s been a struggle for the Royals thus far this season and it hasn’t gone great for Bradshaw at the plate, but his assurance hasn’t shaken at all. Part of that is self-confidence, and another part comes from his manager - former big leaguer Brooks Conrad.
“He’s the best. He’s probably the best manager I’ve had,” Bradshaw said. “He’s always positive about everything. He understands the grind of it and how hard it is. That’s one thing I can say about him is he doesn’t put any pressure on us.”
The grind is the key for Bradshaw. He’s now beginning to understand how grueling it is to play baseball as much as they do at this level. Pushing through that is what he focuses on day-by-day.
“Just trying to stay consistent, that’s it,” he said. “It’s a grind. Doing this every day, trying to compete every day is a grind.”
Although the hits aren’t coming as much as he’d like at this point in the season, Bradshaw is still in high spirits. He knows that as long as he keeps grinding the success will follow.
“Just trying to control what I can control, don’t stress over stuff I can’t stress over,” he said. “Not every night is going to be good, so just trying to stay positive with everything.”
It’s not hard when the entire team tries to stay upbeat, even in the midst of a struggling season where the Royals have just four wins.
“Everybody is just trying to stay positive with everything. That’s what Brooks Conrad stresses about is being positive with everything,” he said.
It’s also nice to be able to play in front of some familiar faces. Being closer to his family allows his parents and friends to see him play either in Burlington, in Bluefield or like this week while he’s in Danville.
“It’s so much better. The family gets to come see me every once in a while when we’re at home,” he said. “Actually one of my (PHCC) teammates came yesterday. Andrew Lancaster, he came and then my coach, Coach (Tripp) Faulk, he’s now an area scout for the (Oakland) A’s, he came out.
“It’s 10-times better (playing close to home). Just being away from home is tough anyways. It makes it more relaxing. It’s like home.”
Bradshaw played in four straight games for Burlington, the last being game one of this week’s series against the Braves on Tuesday. He was off on Wednesday and Thursday night, but he may be in the lineup on Friday, another chance for friends and family to see him play while he’s nearby.
“I tell them anytime I’m in town to get tickets,” Bradshaw said with a laugh. “I just try to get them to come out anytime they want to come out.”
No matter what’s going on, who’s in the crowd or how the team is doing, Bradshaw is just enjoying playing the game he loves back close to home.
“I love it,” he said.
Chris Doherty is a sports writer for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached a chris.doherty@martinsvillebulletin.com