BRADENTON, Fla. — Professional baseball can be a roller coaster. It’s a sport of failure, really
Having success three out of ten times at the plate makes you elite.
Central Catholic grad Jase Bowen is learning all about the good and the bad in his first full professional season.
The sport can grind on you if you’re not mentally tough.
Bowen played in a few pro games in 2019, but coming off a full year away, he started this season 1 for 15 at the plate, but after that, he’s been playing really well for an extended period of time.
"Started off really tough," said Bowen. "I wasn't really comfortable with my swing and I said, 'You know what? You were really good in the offseason so let's just go back to that.' I went back to what I liked and I started seeing better results."
"You try not to ride the highs and lows too much because baseball is gonna happen. My dad always tells me before every game, 'Hey, no matter what you're 0 for 0 today. Just try to go 1 for 1.' That's been my mindset," said Bowen.
The power numbers are certainly a big boost this year. He’s second in the league right now with seven home runs in 38 games for the Single-A affiliate of the Pirates.
The success has certainly helped him grow and he’s right on track with where he needs to be at just 20 years old.
"My first year I was a little timid and now it's just confidence. You know why you're here, you know why you belong here, you know why they drafted you," said Bowen. "I'm around a great group of guys that I love playing with. It makes it easy to be there."