'It felt life or death': Express pitcher on journey to the majors
Editor’s note: After this story was written and the above video aired, Robert was designated for assignment from the Rangers’ 40-man roster April 28.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Some baseball players have a journey to the major leagues that feels like destiny. They know from a young age what position they’d play and following that all the way to the big leagues is the story for some.
Not Daniel Robert.
“In the offseason, I was taking ground balls and hitting like four hours a day,” said Robert. “I’d watch a pitcher come in and throw for 20 minutes, and I was like, ‘Man, I wish I could have that life a little bit.'”
The Alabama native was a great hitter and continued that with the Auburn Tigers in college. Mostly playing first base in college, Robert amassed 185 hits over four years.
Having broken his wrist against Missouri in his junior season, Robert said there was some idle time. The big right-handed thrower was bored and asked if he could throw a couple of bullpens. His velocity jumped out.
MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters
Robert started to pitch, even when he came back to hit. He could feel something was wrong, though.
“I couldn’t really feel my hand at all, maybe after like 20 games pitching,” said Robert. “[I] never got it looked at because I was hitting in the middle of the lineup every day … After the draft, went and got a physical and it was kind of blown apart.”
Robert was picked in the 21st round by the Texas Rangers as a pitcher in 2017. The Rangers said, because he needed surgery, they would sign him if he could throw a bullpen about five months after the draft.
“I don’t know,” Robert said on how he was able to throw so soon after surgery. “It didn’t feel great. After that, I couldn’t use my arm very much.”
A member of the Rangers, Robert didn’t get to pitch in 2017 or 2018 because of arm issues. A ball hit back at him broke his arm and ended his 2019 campaign shortly. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season across minor league baseball.
Those struggles led to some moments of doubt.
“I remember I was 27 in Arizona with a broken arm and a week of High-A time. I was watching all my friends growing up start families and have great jobs. I had no clue if I would get hurt again, I was probably done. I didn’t know the leash I had with the Rangers. It made a lot of outings feel like life or death.”
Those nerves seemed to ease as Robert stayed healthy and pitched well. He made it to Round Rock with the Express and then got the call to the big club in July 2024.
Robert said his path to the majors wasn’t all about him. He had a close circle that supported him throughout his journey.
“It felt more gratifying to do that for them than for myself,” Robert said.
