Hard Work and Sacrifice: The Journey of Bryan Rincon

How far would you go to achieve your goals? There is sacrifice in every story in which someone pursues and achieves a dream. A prime example is the goal of being a professional athlete and reaching the highest level of professional sports. It is a dream shared by many kids across the world and achieved by very few. The hard work and training required is usually well-chronicled across various media outlets, but sometimes the journey itself can get lost in the shuffle.

Some players have to uproot their entire lives to pursue opportunities and open doors so that they can get to the highest levels of baseball. This is certainly the case for Phillies infield prospect and Threshers shortstop Bryan Rincon, who left his home country of Venezuela when he was 16 years old to chase his dream of becoming a professional baseball player in the United States. He overcame a lot of adversity to reach the Philadelphia Phillies organization and begin his career and his journey to the major leagues here in Clearwater.

Initially born in New York, Rincon and his family moved to Venezuela when he was just three months old. Ever since Bryan was a child, baseball was a constant presence in his life. Though his family did not play baseball at a high level, Rincon began learning the game from his father at three years old in Caracas, Venezuela, and began playing organized baseball at five years old. “In Venezuela, there were no days off, no vacations, just baseball,” Rincon said of his time growing up in the youth baseball ranks in Venezuela.

He joined an elite baseball academy over two hours away from his family when he was 13 to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball. Between practice and games, Rincon played baseball seven hours a day, six days a week as he trained and honed his skills. But when he was unable to ink a pro contract at 16, he had to explore other options.

Becoming a professional baseball player was always a dream of Bryan’s, and he was willing to make any sacrifices necessary in pursuit of that goal. An option presented to him was to move in with his uncle in Pittsburgh and play high school baseball in the United States. “I think I was a really good player, but I didn’t physically have the right tools [to sign a pro contract] at that moment,” said Rincon. "I decided to come here [to America] because my dad and I knew that it would be easy for me to play baseball here and get to the pros.”

Despite only knowing his uncles, and not knowing much English, Rincon moved to the United States in 2020, right around his sixteenth birthday. He began attending Shaler high school in the winter of 2020, starting at the end of February. Fifteen days after his first day of school at Shaler, as he was preparing to join the baseball team, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, and school was closed indefinitely.

The pandemic was a trying time for everyone, and it certainly wasn’t easy for Bryan to be shut in at the beginning of his journey in a new country. He came to the United States to further his baseball career and train to eventually turn pro, but options for that were limited with any training facility closed and not knowing any coaches, who were scarcely available anyways, to begin training with in the US. So Rincon adapted, and he and his uncles dedicated themselves to training. “I used to run the hills every day, hit off the tee with two balls, throw into the net and then run to get it back.” Not knowing anyone aside from his uncles, neither of whom had extensive backgrounds in baseball in any playing or coaching capacity, Rincon relied on his strong worth ethic and did whatever he could to practice and perfect his craft until organized baseball was able to come back.

When in-person schooling resumed in 2021, Rincon was ready to attend Shaler again and play baseball for the Titans. This time, however, he had a friend in his class. His cousin Miguel Hugas, a two-way outfielder, joined Bryan in Pittsburgh and at Shaler to pursue their shared dream of turning pro. They attended the same academy in Venezuela and played two seasons of high school baseball before Bryan was drafted in 2022. Finally having someone to train with, the work intensified for Bryan and Miguel during Shaler’s baseball and on the college recruiting trail as well. Furthermore, Brian Junker, the head baseball coach at Shaler, saw how hard the two worked and helped them train and practice as they were recruited by collegiate and professional scouts alike.

Bryan likened Coach Junker to his second father, constantly working extra drills after practice with him and Miguel. “My coach said I was crazy because I was doing too much, but he helped me a lot. He was like my father in the United States.” Having that extra father figure proved to be a big help for both Miguel, an Alabama commit in the class of 2023, and Bryan in their path to the pros. Bryan is off to a solid start, especially in the field, in Clearwater and Miguel is expected to be drafted in the 2023 MLB Draft this coming July.

Draft day in 2022 proved to be one last hurdle for Bryan. He was told he would be drafted between the third and tenth rounds by multiple different teams, but after the first day of the draft, he had yet to receive a call. On summer break and already committed to play college baseball at San Jacinto, Rincon decided to take a rare day off to ease his mind. “On the third day of the draft I went to Jupiter to take a few days off with my uncle,” Rincon said of his draft experience. “I remembered it was still the draft while I was in the shower. When I got out, I looked at my phone and saw that I got picked.” Bryan was selected in the fourteenth round (422nd overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies, his dream of turning pro had finally come true.

His family was emotional, moved to tears of joy when celebrating with Bryan over the phone, but Bryan himself didn’t know how to react. He had achieved the first step of his goal, but he knew the work was about to increase has his journey from the minors to the majors began.

Rincon debuted in the Florida Complex League (FCL) in 2022, slugging two home runs with nine RBIs in 12 games at the Carpenter Complex adjacent to BayCare Ballpark in his debut season. But beginning his first full season as a pro with the Threshers, he focuses on improving his game, learning everything he can, and continuing to grow as a player and professional. “I just want to play and show the people what I can do,” states Bryan regarding his goals for the season. “Every day I work hard and try to be my best.” just a month into the season, the results are starting to show for the 19-year-old, with clear signs of improvement both at the plate and in the field. But there is plenty of room for development in the early stages of his career.

Rincon is far removed from the 16-year-old kid in unfamiliar terrain. Navigating a difficult journey to the bigs will surely have some ups and downs, but Bryan knows it’s on him now to keep working hard and achieve his dream. With a strong work ethic and resilience in overcoming adversity, all signs point to a long pro career for Bryan Rincon.