Luke Raley is a prospect in the Dodgers organization that lives by a motto to “Just Keep Going”. Raley is a Highland High graduate and was a standout player at the Medina Ohio school, all stated, and did everything he could to get a chance to further his career at the highest levels. But, coming out of High School, Raley was offered 0 Division 1 scholarships, went undrafted and, quite honestly, grew a chip on his shoulder about it. The game of baseball teaches so many lessons in life, and one of them is that it forces you to have the right perspective on things. For instance, when a player is 0 for their last forever, they can choose to dwell on their struggles, or they can view it as if they are just simply due. Having a productive perspective is certainly much easier said than done, so when someone like Raley demonstrates it in real life it’s impressive.
Chip on Your Shoulder
Everyone wants to be valued, and everyone wants others to see value in what they do. When doors are shut, or just simply never opened in the first place, it’s easy to give in, move on, and go to the next thing in life. But that’s not how people like Luke Raley operate, it’s not how they think, and it’s just simply not what they do. Instead, people like Luke Raley dig in, they put a chip on their shoulder, and they embark on proving all the people wrong that didn’t believe in them.
After High School the long lanky left hander took his chip on his shoulder to Division II Lake Erie College and started lighting up the skies as if he was trying to create his own Storm. At Lake Erie he became an All American, hit .424 as a Junior and garnered enough attention to get drafted by the Dodgers in the 7th round of the 2016 draft. Raley had made it, he had proven his point, and he was now going to become a Dodger.
My career at Lake Erie was an awesome experience. I had great coaches there and I ended up playing in every game I was healthy for and you can’t beat that. That’s why I’m truly a believer that everyone needs to find the right situation and my situation at Lake Erie was perfect.
Dodger Debut
Raley’s career with the Dodgers got off to a quick start as he became a California League All Star with High A Rancho Cucamonga in 2017, then played in 93 games with AA Tulsa in 2018 and was having a really good year. But, to his surprise, he was traded to the Twins in the deal that brought Brian Dozier to the Dodgers and finished out that year with the AA affiliate of the Twins. Raley wasn’t surprised that he got traded, but, after the Dodgers acquired Manny Machado, he thought he was safe, and that he had made it through the trade talks as a Dodger. So, when he got the call just 30 minutes before the trade deadline, and he was told that he was being traded to the Twins it was a surprise to him and one that forced him to dive back into his great perspective towards life.
In 2018 I was having a good year in AA Tulsa and I knew the Dodgers were going to make some moves and I had heard my name in some rumors. When the Manny Machado deal went through I thought I was safe as a Dodger, but then I got the call that I was going to the Twins. So, it was really just a shock as it happened so fast.
Perspective
When a player gets traded, it’s up to them as to whether they view it as not being valued by the team trading them, or being valued by the team acquiring them. That’s a line of thought that, in the long run, produces nothing much that is positive. Well, unless you are Luke Raley and you have learned how to turn those kind of thoughts into motivation. In 2019, Raley took off and hit .302 in AAA and was showing the Dodgers the value that they were missing. But, not for long as just before the beginning of Spring Training in 2020 he became a Dodger again. The former Highland High star came back to the Dodgers along with Brusdar Graterol in the deal that sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins. Raley was right back where he wanted to be, in a Dodger uniform, around familiar coaches and teammates, and he was ready to take the next step in his career.
I knew the Twins were going to make some moves, I had heard rumors about them being in the Mookie Betts trade and stuff like that and when I saw that they were in trade discussions with the Dodgers I knew the trade was going to happen. Honestly, I was shocked because when you get traded away you feel like there’s a reason for it, so it was honestly shocking to go back, but it was a much easier transition back to the Dodgers.
Just as Raley was ready to leap into the next stage of his career, Covid hit and the 2020 Minor League Season was cancelled. Raley was so close to the Major Leagues and, like his 2021 season, he was most likely going to get his first MLB action in that year. It was a disappointment to say the least and one that forced Raley to, once again, dive back into his bag of perspective. In true Raley form, instead of viewing that as a year taken away from his career, he viewed it as a year to change his career. Raley used his time at the Alternate Training Site to make some adjustments to his game, and it has come up huge for him.
I went to the Alternate Training Site in L.A. at USC all year. I feel like I had a good 2020 and was able to make some adjustments that you can’t always make in a season. So, for how bad it was to lose the season, there was definitely something to take away from it because it gave you a different opportunity to improve yourself. And, I think I found a lot of answers in my swing and other things at the Alternate Training Site and, you know, I was hoping I could go out and have a good season like I did this year and hopefully next year it turns in to more Major League success.
Raley had his best year yet in 2021 as in AAA OKC he hit .294 and had an OPS of .963. He had so much success that he was called up and optioned 7 different times and had one of the most dramatic moments of 2021. On the first pitch of his 2nd at bat back up with L.A. Raley put a charge in a ball unlike any other ball hit by the Dodgers this year. He hit a .472 foot homerun which was the longest of any Dodger for this year and the 3rd longest by a Dodger in the statcast era.
That was a really cool experience and one that was made WAY cooler by the fact that his mom was in the stands. In fact, that game was the first time she had ever gotten to see her son play in the Major Leagues. It was an amazing experience for an amazing person in an amazing organization and now, hopefully Raley will find more time in the MLB and have an amazing career.
