Nicholas Badders is known as the Voice of the Naturals, the Double-A affiliate minor league baseball team for the Kansas City Royals. We get to join him as he tells us his background, his meticulous preparation, and what it's like to call balls and strikes.
May 2, 2021
Myles Straw grew up a big Tampa Bay Rays fan and has been to hundreds of games at Tropicana Field. Much for that reason, he’s more than a little familiar with Brandon Guyer. Which isn’t to say that Straw emulates the recently-retired outfielder. Guyer reached base via HBP a bruise-worthy 85 times from 2014-2018, and he did so despite never getting as many as 400 plate appearances in a single season. The bulk of his plunkings came in a Rays uniform.
When I talked to Straw this past Wednesday, he had played in 120 big-league games, all with the Houston Astros. He had never been hit by a pitch.