Draft Advice from Former Pros

Most players don’t realize how much more competitive professional baseball is than their previous experiences in the sport. But what really matters is how you carry yourself through the ups and downs of professional baseball.
Evan Frederickson

Who am I?

Hi guys, my name is Evan Frederickson. The quickest way to describe myself is that I’m a 32 year old proud husband and father. My wife (who I met playing pro ball for the Brewers in Wisconsin) and I just had our first child, four months ago, and could not be happier (besides for the sleep deprivation haha).  

I spent the vast majority of the first 25 years of my life focusing on baseball.  I was drafted in the 27th round out of HS as a ‘draft and follow’ by the Twins. After deciding to go to college (two years at Virginia Tech and one at the University of San Francisco) I was selected 35th overall in the 2008 draft to the Milwaukee Brewers.

What would you wish you had known when you were drafted?

Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle. —Ross Simmonds

Most players don’t realize how much more competitive professional baseball is than their previous experiences in the sport.  I wish I would have known that being a 1st round pick doesn’t guarantee you a long MLB career.  It will be a shock to some, some will transition better than others, and some won’t transition well at all.  What really matters is how you carry yourself through the ups and downs of professional baseball.

My take is this: professional baseball is just that: Professional.  

You need to spend eight plus hours a day refining your craft if you want a chance to make it to the top.  Most young men aren’t ready for this new level of commitment to a sport that has, thus far, come so easily to them.  The first year in pro ball can be overwhelming.

However, I do believe that if you can adjust and put forward this level of consistent effort, train properly, stay healthy, and believe in yourself 110%, you can have an amazing career.  There may be some luck involved regarding your organization, and other prospects within it, that can help get you there faster.  You hear people say in baseball all the time:

“You just need to get that opportunity.” —multiple anonymous baseball coaches

If I could go back, I wish someone would have strongly emphasized/prepared me for the grind it would take to get to the MLB.  

The grind that would eventually morph a person into a better and stronger version of themselves.  The grind is there to make an 18 year old HS kid ready to face the pressures of 50 thousand fans screaming in the bottom of the 9th.  Players will tell you when they are drafted that they are ready for it, but they aren’t.  The grind is necessary to turn these kids to men and let the ones who want it the most rise to the top.

I wish someone would have better prepared me for the grind I was about to go through, and safeguard me through the turbulent times that were out of my control.  At Pando, my team and I get to be that support system in an exhilarating yet uncertain time in a ball players’ career.  I believe this is where my passion for Pando lies.  We provide a level of protection that some may not realize exists, but a necessity while navigating the journey through the best sport in the world.

What am I doing now?

After pro ball, I went back to USF and graduated with a degree in Business Finance and Financial Management Services.  From there, I went on to work in the financial industry, started my own business, and headed up a sales org for a startup in Silicon Valley before joining the Pando team as Head of Baseball.

Of all the things I’ve done post-baseball, none compare to the passion for what I’m doing now at Pando. The opportunity to tie in all my past job experiences (including baseball) was something I could not pass up.  I’m expecting great things in the future from Pando.