Story and photos by Marilyn Smith
Story and photos by Marilyn Smith
Those in Cypress who follow high school baseball will surely remember the name David Fletcher. The 2013 graduate of Cypress High School was a starting shortstop on the Centurion squad his freshman year and continued in that position through his graduation. He won numerous awards at the school and his time there culminated with Cypress High winning the CIF Championship in 2013. In his senior year, he was able to play on the same team with his younger brother, Dominic, who now plays center field at the University of Arkansas.
Fletcher received a scholarship to play baseball for Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and was an award-winning player there until 2015, at which time he was drafted by the Angels, in the sixth round. Since then, Fletcher has been seeing many parts of the United States as he climbed the ladder of minor league professional baseball.
This year, Fletcher managed to stay with the big league club all the way through the pre-season Freeway Series between the Angels and Dodgers. However, he will start the 2018 season with the Triple A team in Salt Lake City. Prior to the Freeway Series opener at Angel Stadium, Fletcher was presented with the Fred Haney Award, the Angels’ award for the most outstanding minor leaguer in spring training.
Longtime News Enterprise contributor Marilyn Smith caught up with Fletcher, 23, at Angels Spring Training in Tempe, AZ.
MS: Tell me about your early years in youth baseball.
Fletcher: I started playing organized baseball when I was five. I never played Little League, but spent all my time playing on travel ball teams until I went to Cypress High School. I was always a shortstop and never really wanted to play another position until last year when I started playing some second base in the Angels organization.
MS: Your father (Tim Fletcher) must have been a really good teacher to have two boys grow up to be as good as you and Dom are at baseball. How did he teach you?
Fletcher: Ironically, my dad didn’t play baseball himself but he was a very good football and basketball player in college until he broke his leg. If you ask my dad, I think he’ll tell you that the most important thing he taught us was our work ethic and always giving 100 percent. That’s basically what he instilled in us. That, and he found us good coaches.
MS: Does your family get to any of your games these days?
Fletcher: Either my dad or mom (Fernanda) were at all my games when I was growing up, but now it’s harder because I play pretty far away. They were able to get to some games when I was at High A in San Bernardino. And my dad came to Arkansas to see one of my games in Double A. But my dad has two TVs set up side by side at their house and has two remote controls…one is marked “David” and one is marked “Dominic.” Our parents try to watch all our games on TV.
MS: Who have been your biggest baseball influences as you were growing up?
Fletcher: I’d say my dad, because of those reasons I mentioned, and Stan Grebeck. I worked with Stan since I was 13 and still talk to him all the time. He did individual coaching with me and Dom. Even now, I still go work out with him sometimes in the offseason to field ground balls. His brother, Craig Grebeck, was a major league player and I played for Craig on a travel ball team when I was 13. That’s how I met Stan. I learned a lot about the game from both Stan and Craig. I think they helped Dom and I be more advanced for our ages. Coach John Weber at Cypress High was a big influence on me, and my coach at Loyola Marymount also. Basically, every coach I’ve had since I was young had some influence on me. You are always learning. I still see Coach Weber during the offseason and help out with the Cypress High team.
MS: How did you manage to get the attention of Coach Weber at Cypress High if you didn’t come up through the local youth leagues?
Fletcher: It’s funny. I almost went to Los Alamitos High instead. I attended a baseball camp in Los Al and the high school coach saw me play and said “You’re coming to Los Al, right?” Well, I live in Cypress so I told him I wasn’t sure. He made arrangements for me to go to Oak Middle School, which is a feeder school for Los Al. But when it came time for me to go to high school there was a coaching change there. So instead I went to a baseball camp in Cypress and I think that was the first time Coach Weber saw me play.
MS: How did you manage to start on the varsity team as a freshman? That’s pretty rare.
Fletcher: I think it was the coaching I had coming up and the amount of games I played when I was younger. A lot of little things like baseball instincts, I guess you’d call them. Those all gave me an edge, I think. It was a good experience for me to play at that level as a freshman for sure. It was fun when my brother Dom got to high school and he also played varsity as a freshman. So he was a freshman and I was a senior…we got to play together one year. That was 2013 and we won the CIF championship so that was pretty special. We still work out together when he’s home from college in December and I’m in my off-season. Dom is now a sophomore at the University of Arkansas and was a regular starter his freshman year as well. Hopefully in two years he’ll be playing pro ball somewhere. If it could be in the Angels organization, that would be really special. I think Dominic will get drafted in a higher round than I did.
MS: What was it like going all the way to CIF in 2013?
Fletcher: For sure it’s one of my top baseball memories. Even now as a pro, it’s really special looking back at that. I got to play at Dodger Stadium, which was definitely a really cool experience. And the day we won CIF was on my birthday so I think I’ll always remember it.
Reporter notes:
At Cypress High, Fletcher left with an armful of school records when he graduated in 2013. Among them:
• Most hits in a season – 52 (2013)
• Most career hits – 163 (2010-2013)
• Most career stolen bases – 69 (2010-2013)
• Most runs scored in a season – 38 (2013) – Tied with Bob Brito (1995)
• Most career runs scored – 117 (2010-2013)
• Most innings played in a season – 240 (2013)
• Most career triples – 9 (tied with his brother Dominic)
MS: I’ve heard that you didn’t even get to walk in your high school graduation ceremony because you were – what else? – playing baseball.
Fletcher: Right after high school, almost immediately after we won CIF, I went up to Alaska to play ball for the summer in the ABL (the Alaskan Baseball League). It was a really good experience for me. It used to be one of the top college leagues until the Cape Cod League overtook it in more recent years. It’s still up there in the top five college leagues in the country. Loyola Marymount set me up with that, which was really cool because not many guys get to go before their freshman year of college. Most go after one year of college, so I was the only high school guy out there. It was really good for me to play at that level and get that experience before going to college. It gave me a head start. My team was in Fairbanks. There were four teams within 30 minutes of each other in the Anchorage area, but we were seven hours north in Fairbanks. There was one other team three hours south of Anchorage, so we were 7-10 hours from everyone. It made for lots of bus travel. Fortunately we only made the bus trip down about every other week and then stayed in that area playing several teams. We’d play a week at home and a couple teams would come up to our field. Then we’d go to the Anchorage area for a week and play other teams. Playing in Alaska was really cool. I stayed with a host family and they took us fishing, we saw eagles, bears and moose. We walked past a big female moose with her baby and we knew we needed to keep our distance from her! Once, we were staying in dorm rooms on the road in Anchorage and we walked out one morning and there was a bear. Whoa! But I’ve been very lucky to travel all around the U.S. playing ball.
MS: At Loyola Marymount you also started at shortstop as a freshman and were named to the Baseball America All-Freshman Team. But then in 2015, you got a call from the Angels on Draft Day. What was that like?
Fletcher: I was at home watching the draft on our computer. My agent was talking to a lot of teams. He kind of came to an agreement with the Angels. He called me and told me what they were offering and we agreed on that. That was about a round before I got drafted, so I was just waiting for the Angels’ next pick. Finally I saw my name pop up on the screen in the sixth round and it was pretty cool.
Reporter notes: And so, Fletcher began his odyssey through baseball’s minor leagues. His first stop was Rookie Ball in Orem, Utah in 2015. That was followed later that summer by a promotion to the Angels’ Single A team in Burlington, Iowa and then back to the West Coast to play with the Advanced A San Bernardino 66ers. From there, he was promoted to Double A and played half of a season in Arkansas at the same time his brother was playing his freshman season at the University of Arkansas. They were in cities across the state from one another but their dad was able to make a trip East and see them each play a game. The following season, the Angels moved their Double A affiliate to Mobile, Alabama so Fletcher spent time there before being promoted once again to Triple A in Salt Lake City mid-season in 2017. Triple A is a major achievement for any player because at that point you are just one step away from making it to the big leagues. To move from Rookie ball in 2015 to Triple A in 2017 is considered a very rapid climb in the world of minor league baseball, where that same route often takes players five years—sometimes more.
MS: What is life like in the minor leagues?
Fletcher: My best memories in the minors so far are getting called up to each new level. I remember getting called up from Rookie Ball to Low A, from Low A to High A and each step along the way. I’ll probably never forget that excitement when your manager tells you you’ve been promoted. But in general, life in the minors can be pretty difficult. I lived with a host family in Orem and Burlington my first year. That’s really nice because you don’t have to worry about finding a place to live. But there are a lot of 10-12 hour bus rides we had to take after a night game gets out around 10 p.m. So basically you are trying to get some sleep on a bus all night and be ready to play again the next night. The travel is tough in the minor leagues, but that’s all part of it. Advanced A and beyond you are on your own as far as living arrangements go. You try to get an apartment with some teammates to split up the cost since you make very little money. You either find a furnished apartment or rent some furniture because you have to be ready at a moment’s notice to move to the next level. For some reason it seems you always get promoted to a new team while you are playing on the road. You have to fly out to a new city immediately but your stuff is back in your old city so you’ve got to get your buddies to send you your stuff. I had to leave my car in Mobile when I got promoted to Triple A in Salt Lake City. Then I flew back to Alabama after the season was over and drove my car home. That was like a 30-hour drive. When I leave Spring Training in Arizona if I get sent back to Salt Lake, that’s close enough to be able to drive it, so I’ll have my car with me. That’s a big help. The worst memories are those long bus rides, but there are a lot of guys who have stories about the bus breaking down and being stranded for really long periods of time. But somehow I’ve gotten lucky and avoided that. My other worst memory is getting hurt in High A. I hurt my wrist there and in Double A, I hurt my shoulder so those were the worst times having to go to Arizona to rehab and try to stay sane when you’re away from your team.
MS: What’s the best part of Triple A compared to other levels of the minors?
Fletcher: You fly everywhere in Triple A, which is great. Typically each step you go up in the minors, the food gets better and the living arrangements get better. But flying instead of bus rides is a major plus. Also the stadiums in Triple A are a real upgrade.
MS: What’s a typical day like in spring training?
Fletcher: In Spring Training it’s the total opposite of the regular season because we play mostly day games here. We wake up early and get to the field by 7 a.m. You get your lifting and cage work and stretching stuff done. You’re not required to get there until practice starts later, but if you want to get time in the cages and in the weight room, then you need to get there earlier. There’s a pecking order as to who gets to use the facilities and the major leaguers get the best times. So we minor league players need to get there earlier to put in our work. We get on the field for actual practice by 9:30 until about 11:30, then come back in to get ready for the 1 p.m. game. We play the game and then do it all over again the next day. We’re done by about 4 p.m. if it’s a home game. If it’s an away game we have to bus back so we probably get back by 5 or 5:30 p.m. During the season, the schedule is the complete opposite. We play every night at 7 p.m. so we get to the field between noon and 2 p.m. You get your early preparation done, play the game and then go to bed. Usually we can sleep in a bit, grab some food and then head to the field again the next day.
MS: Speaking of Spring Training, you always seem to do really well there. (With a few days left until the end of Spring Training, Fletcher was batting .333 and led all Angels in hits.) The Angels broadcasters have referred to you as a really intelligent player who almost always comes through in the clutch. To what do you attribute your fantastic showings in Spring Training?
Fletcher: I don’t know how to explain why I do so well in spring training. If I had to guess I think I do a good job in the off season to get a little bit ahead in baseball activities like hitting and fielding. I try to start those things, including some live at bats, earlier in the off-season. That may put me a little ahead of pitchers who are on their first or second outings. Even in the first few days, I feel like I’m ready to go. This (2018) is really only my second full Spring Training. The first one (2016) I was still in minor league camp but got to back up during a few major league games. Last year was the first time I was an invitee and I am again this year. All 200 players in an organization go to Spring Training, but only a few guys get invited to the major league camp. Those who don’t get an invitation don’t get paid during 5-6 weeks of Spring Training but you still have to rent an apartment and pay for other expenses. Once you are an invitee, you are paid a stipend, but that only lasts as long as you stay up in major league camp. So for the minor leaguers it’s a big deal to stay with the major league club as long as possible, both for financial reasons as well as for furthering their careers.
MS: What pro players did you look up to?
Fletcher: When I was really young it was (Angels shortstop) David Eckstein because of the way he played. He was a smaller guy like me, who excelled at shortstop. A lot of people tell me I remind them of Eckstein, which is a great compliment. I was an Angels fan growing up. I remember when they won the World Series in 2002 my dad took my brother and I to the victory parade. We have family photos of that. Then as I got older I followed the Red Sox too because they were on TV a lot and I looked up to infielder Dustin Pedroia. He is a smaller guy like Eckstein, who always gives 100 percent. But growing up in Orange County it was pretty special to get drafted by the Angels.
MS: And now you’re riding on the same bus, sitting in the same dugout, and playing in games with star players like Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Is that intimidating?
Fletcher: At first it was pretty surreal to play with those guys, but after my first spring training it’s become more normal to be around them. It’s definitely a good experience to work out with those guys and learn and watch them and talk to them. I get to learn from guys like Andrelton Simmons and Ian Kinsler and other infielders. The veteran guys are good at trying to help the younger guys. They show you little things here and there. I think they remember veteran players helping them when they were coming up so everyone is very helpful.
MS: What’s it like to play for Mike Scioscia?
Fletcher: As long as you play hard and work hard, that’s all he really asks of you. Besides, he has a really good sense of humor. In Spring Training, he’s big into getting guys to form relationships with one another, and has some pretty fun team building activities for us.
MS: You’ve had a lot of praise for Angels General Manager Billy Eppler, even though he wasn’t the GM who drafted you. Tell me about him.
Fletcher: Billy is a fantastic guy. The values he has kind of seep through the whole organization. What he stands for and the culture he creates are really good. He creates a culture of winning in everything we do. I am really lucky to get to play for his organization.
MS: And finally, I understand you are recently engaged. Congratulations!
Fletcher: Thank you. My fiancée, Kierra Fischer, is a dance instructor and my younger sister has attended her dance studio for some time. My sister, Daviana, set us up on a blind date. I’m really glad she did! I asked Kierra to marry me right before Christmas and I proposed —of course— on a baseball field. I was nervous and that’s the only place I feel like I know what I’m doing. It might not have been the most romantic location, but at least she said yes.