Cal Stevenson almost quit baseball last season. Here’s how he learned to hang in and trust himself.
He had bounced across five organizations since he was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2018. Now he's helping the Phillies in their playoff push.
Before Cal Stevenson played the game of his life on Saturday, he was a minor-league journeyman who’d been designated for assignment three times in 48 days.
When the Giants DFA’d him on May 19, 2023, he thought about quitting the sport. Stevenson was 27 and had played in only 29 big-league games. He’d bounced across five organizations since the Blue Jays drafted him in 2018.
His wife, Rebekah, had just given birth to their second child, and Stevenson felt bad about being so far away from home — especially when he was struggling.
“It didn’t feel like I was wanted anymore,” Stevenson said. “It didn’t feel like anybody really trusted me to play at this level.”
The outfielder began to search for clarity. First, he called his parents, who reminded him that he was not just playing for the love of the game, but for his family, too. Then, he called his former college coach, Jay Johnson. Johnson is at LSU but overlapped with Stevenson at the University of Nevada and the University of Arizona.
“You’re too good of a player to just stop playing,” Johnson said. “You have more. And from the sound of this phone call, it doesn’t sound like you want to stop.”
The Phillies claimed him off waivers on May 26, 2023. Stevenson was designated for assignment — again — on June 1, but this time, he wasn’t as dejected. He decided that this chapter would be different. He would stop thinking about the business side of the game and start to trust himself.
“I was like, I don’t think it’s fair to my family to just give up,” Stevenson said. “I don’t think that’s fair to my 5-year-old self, either. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I’m at just to let it go because somebody told me that I couldn’t do it.”
He cleared waivers and rejoined the Phillies’ triple-A affiliate on June 7. The outfielder began to focus on what he could control. He is a passive hitter by nature, and had been encouraged to take more chances in the strike zone. He homed in on that, especially in hitters’ counts.
» READ MORE: The Phillies are searching for an answer to their fifth starter woes on the mound
The work paid off. Stevenson, 28, hit .310/.465/.558 over his next 44 games with eight home runs and an 1.023 OPS. This season, he hit .302/.421/.486 for Lehigh Valley, with a .907 OPS. He was called up on Sept. 5 and has contributed in meaning ways.
None were more meaningful than his contributions on Saturday against the Mets. Stevenson hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead. He capped that off with a jumping grab at the center-field wall to rob J.D. Martinez of a home run in the top of the eighth.
It was an emotional moment. As Stevenson jogged off the field, Nick Castellanos ran up to him and gave him a hug. After the game, Bryce Harper approached him in the clubhouse and commended him for his at-bat in the seventh.
“He said, ‘If you could take that at-bat in front of 40,000 people, you could take any at-bat in your big league career,’” Stevenson said. “And you know, I truly believe that. Because it didn’t feel like 40,000 people were here when I was in the box. It felt like there was nobody here. It was just quiet.
“It was cool to hear that from him, because I watched him a lot growing up. It kind of felt like he had some trust in me to get the job done.”
Stevenson has trust in himself, but it helps to be surrounded by veterans who see his value, too. He says that the Phillies have been good about reminding him that he belongs.
“When guys like Harper, Castellanos, [Kyle] Schwarber, J.T. [Realmuto] are telling you, ‘You did a good job today, atta baby,’ that kind of reinforces that belief, too,” Stevenson said.
His journey to this point made the game all the more sweeter.
“When you fail at this level, there’s some uncertainty there,” Stevenson said. “[Wondering] if you belong … you kind of question things. So, when you do come through in those moments, you savor them. Of course, you know there’s more to come, but it definitely builds your confidence.
“And, like I said yesterday, this is a playoff team. This is one of the best teams in baseball. So to be able to help these guys, when I can ... you definitely want to savor those moments.”