Gavin Braland finds himself in a unique position at this year’s New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series Main Event.
The South Carolina commit actually already has experience at Fenway Park, as he was brought to last year’s event as a bullpen catcher and to get the full experience of the event to get him ready for potentially earning his way back for 2023.
One strong showing at the most recent National Combine in Nashville later, and he’ll be back for the September 29-October 1 event. And this time, he’ll be playing.
“I have been doing Future Stars (Series events) for a few years now and the experience has been outstanding,” Braland said. “We receive coaching from former MLB players during every event, we also get a Pro-style workout and the gear we receive is like no other around.”
The Georgia Premier Academy star and standout of last year’s Underclass Elite event says he’s been working on staying sharp with his throw-and-catch mechanics from behind the plate since the last time we saw him, as well as hitting to all fields.
That the next opportunity he has to show that progress will be on the big stage certainly isn’t lost on him.
“Not everyone can say that they have had the opportunity to play in Fenway and I’m blessed to be one of those players,” he said.
Set to catch and potentially play third base as well for the Orange Team this coming weekend, Braland is just as excited to show that progress in front of what’s expected to be a lengthy list of big-league scouts and very high-ranking execs expected to fill the seats behind the very home plate he’ll trying to frame pitches on top of.
“I would like them to see how much I love this game through my talents, attitude and effort on and off the field,” he said.
