Fisher Cats Feature: Trevor Clifton 

A wiry, 18-year-old had just returned home from a full day of shoveling gravel. It wasn’t his first odd job, and wouldn’t be his last.

Shortly thereafter, the tired, worn-out laborer received the news he’d been waiting for. The type of news which could put the physical labor he so detested behind him for good.

The Chicago Cubs, his father relayed, had finalized a contract offer.

“Dad, I don’t care what they offer,’” said Trevor Clifton. “I’m not shoveling gravel anymore.”

He was steadfast because, as he knew deep down, baseball was his ticket, whether it be college or the pros. Going to school felt like a sure thing, but a call from a big-league team changed his mind in a flash. He needed to take the opportunity.

Clifton grinded through the many levels of the Minors, but his natural gifts only got him so far. He reached Triple-A for two years with the Cubs, then seeking a fresh start, he signed with the Diamondbacks, only to be released days before the beginning of his seventh season of pro ball. After an adult life of investment, the most untimely of circumstances could’ve brought Clifton right back to a work site, shovel in hand.

“When I got released, a lot of stuff was going on,” said Clifton. “I wasn’t mature, and I just gave [baseball] up — I had to get my life straight.”

Heritage High School’s mascot is the Mountaineer. A sizable portion of its student population truly embodies the nickname, trekking from family farms in the hills to the school in Maryville, Tennessee on a daily basis. For many, sports aren’t a priority. And when someone is special, word travels fast.

“He’s the hometown hero,” said Will Marshall, Clifton’s close friend and training partner at 108 Performance. “They’ve got his number retired — you go around town and everyone knows who he is. That’s a lot of pressure a guy like that deals with.”

Clifton struck out over 200 batters in four years at Heritage High School, played for Team USA’s 16-and-Under squad in the 2011 World Youth Championships and quickly ascended to high status in the town of just over 30,000.

Two choices sat on the table after Clifton’s senior year: honor his commitment to Kentucky, where he built a strong connection with then-assistant coach Brad Bohannon, or take a chance on the dream of playing professional baseball.

A family watch party lasted through the first handful of rounds of the 2013 MLB Draft. No calls came. College ball it was.

That is, until a country concert a couple days later. Attending with his girlfriend at the time, Clifton’s phone buzzed through the music. It was his dad Dennis, wanting to know “where the heck his butt was.”

The Cubs, in the 12th round, with pick 348, selected the right-hander from Heritage High.

Bumps and bruises came quickly in Clifton’s adjustment to pro ball. He finished with an ERA of just under seven with the Arizona Complex League Cubs in 2013, a harsh introduction to the enormous talent pool he had just entered. As he climbed the minor league ranks, however, a mindset shift on the mound followed.

“[I told myself] I’m here for a reason,” said Clifton. “No kid is better than me.”

Added Dennis: “Trevor was never a cocky player. When he went to the Cubs, he was that same kid. After the first couple seasons, he had more control over everything and more belief in himself.”

The numbers followed suit, steadily improving year-by-year before peaking in 2016, when Clifton racked up 129 strikeouts with a 2.78 ERA en route to Cubs MiLB Pitcher of the Year honors with Advanced-A Myrtle Beach.

But off the field, Clifton was struggling to handle the mental side of the game.

“I was a guy that took it home with him,” said Clifton. “Whenever I had a bad outing, I’d think about it until my next outing. My highs were highs, and my lows were lows. I don’t think you can play baseball that way.”

Landscaping had always been therapeutic for Clifton. Nothing to worry about besides the grass; the smell a reminder of the baseball fields where he honed his craft.

In between minor league seasons, Clifton returned home to Tennessee, where he made ends meet mowing lawns and fixing other odds and ends.

After the Diamondbacks released him, and COVID-19 nixed the entire 2020 minor league season, baseball was off the table. "T. Clifton Lawn Care” became a full-time endeavor. With some elbow grease, the business grew.

Needing bodies, Clifton went back to what he knew best. He reached out to a group of local college baseball players, who had lost their seasons due to COVID as well. Around other athletes, Clifton realized his competitive juices were still flowing.

“They had the same goals [as me]…it pushed me to train,” said Clifton.

Clifton planned to give pitching lessons in the Knoxville area. He attended a demonstration to learn from Will Marshall and the 108 Performance team, who had recently relocated from California to Tennessee.

“Trevor shows up at this camp, he’s a little out of shape, big scruffy beard,” said Marshall. “We had no idea who he was.”

After camp, Clifton had lunch with the 108 crew. He started to get involved with the program’s pitching development, training and hanging around young guns such as now-Rangers prospect Kumar Rocker. It wasn’t long before Clifton got the itch to toe the rubber.

“He threw for us and was not good,” said Marshall. “Especially compared to the video we watched of him from when he was playing some years prior.”

By his own admission, Clifton was sitting “84-85 miles per hour,” an unsightly number for a former top prospect. But 108’s methods, which Marshall describes as “contradictory to common baseball thought,” turned on lightbulb after lightbulb.

“Everything they said just made sense,” said Clifton.

A little over a year after Clifton recommitted to pitching, he threw at 108’s Bridge the Gap convention, an in-person and virtual coaching clinic detailing their training methods. Clifton, once an onlooker, was now the must-watch item.

“When he showcased what he had, it was one of the most electric bullpens I’ve ever seen,” said Marshall.

In front of Blue Jays personnel, Clifton touched 95 on the radar gun.

Even so, a bullpen wasn’t enough to scour up an affiliated contract.

With the help of some 108 connections, Clifton signed a deal with the Ottawa Titans of the Independent Frontier League for the summer of 2023. It was his last resort.

“I said I’d never do it, but I had to take the opportunities I could get,” said Clifton.

He had almost given up baseball altogether. Now, over 1,000 miles away from his last minor league club, and even further mentally removed from the stresses of rising through the ranks, Clifton was liberated.

“I enjoyed how there was no pressure to get to another place,” said Clifton. “Just go out there and pitch.”

Riding his newfound freedom, Clifton earned five saves and struck out 47 batters in 29 1/3 innings pitched. He was sitting in a pregame ice bath in early August when a call came through. He didn’t recognize the number, so Clifton decided he’d get to it later.

“I called it back right before the game, and I had to go out there and tell my manager I couldn't pitch that night,” said Clifton. “Everyone was congratulating me in the dugout. … I think it gave a lot of those guys hope.”

The Blue Jays made Clifton the first Ottawa Titan ever to sign with an affiliated club. The next day, he flew to New Hampshire.

Reflecting almost ten months later, Clifton knows it hasn't always been smooth sailing since joining the Fisher Cats — he worked through a 7-day IL stint near the end of 2023. He’s had outings, both in 2023 and 2024, which a 23-year-old Clifton would’ve mentally replayed and replayed again until anguish clouded his mind.

In Trevor’s Clifton’s 10th year of professional baseball, he’s learned to navigate the rough waters because of the two he spent away from the game.

“You can fail all the time,” said Clifton. “But if you’ve never dealt with failure, you don’t know how to handle it.”