Shore baseball star among Astros top spring training prospects: 'Trying to make the most of it'

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- It's hard to imagine a two-time Shore Conference Player of the Year would feel the pressure to change into something different but Trey Dombroski's first year of college spurred a sort of baseball identity crisis.

Despite his incredibly productive high school career at Wall, he had been lightly recruited and ultimately joined his older brother Regan at Monmouth University. The feedback had gotten to him: Trey wasn't throwing hard enough.

"I was trying to be a pitcher I really wasn't," said Dombroski. "I was trying to throw as hard as I possibly could. And with that I was sacrificing my command."

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After a senior season at Wall with an astonishing 124 strikeouts in 76 innings and 0.31 ERA, one would think a pitcher could become immune to insecurity. But Dombroski felt the weight of external critiques as he transitioned to the college game. The pandemic cancellations of 2020 actually provided a reprieve as he reflected on himself and his process. The outside view never mattered - his process and his results said everything.

"So my freshman year, I really learned what I had to do to find the happy medium between the velocity and the command, not risking one for the other," Dombroski continued. "It was like a restart for me."

That restart seems to be the foundation of his profound mindfulness for a pro baseball player just shy of his 23rd birthday. At 6-foot-5, the physical presence is imposing when he enters a room. But it's his presence in the moment that's truly unparalleled.

"Baseball's a crazy game," Dombroski said. "When good things happen, you got to soak those up and be able to remember what those times feel like."

The current moment is spring training with the Houston Astros. And like most moments for the ever-optimistic pitcher, this is a good one.

'I don't consider it a grind' - Dombroski enjoying the process

Spring training for the Astros' minor leaguers began March 5, a working environment that is sort of unimaginable even in the world of pro sports. More than 200 baseball players coming and going for various workouts although they'll eventually be organized into teams a fraction of that size.

The maligned grind of the minor leagues is notorious for those who've lived it. Oftentimes it involves a great volume of games competed in front of smaller crowds with less infrastructure for the players. It is a gauntlet for those who make it through that makes the comparable grind of the majors seem easy.

"Mentally it is a grind, but I don't consider it a grind because I love it so much," he said. "Not to sound corny in a sense, but last year was new for me. Going to the field every day was awesome. It was something I thoroughly enjoyed because I got to go there every day and I got to improve on something."

The efforts to improve showed in Dombroski's final stats from his first season in the minors. Playing for the Single-A Fayetteville (North Carolina) Woodpeckers, he posted a 3.71 ERA and 1.12 WHIP as opposing batters hit .216 against him. Over 119 innings, he finished with an impressive 148 strikeouts compared to 36 walks. The last two numbers are key and sort of a signature metric for the pitcher — he averages 11.19 strikeouts per nine innings average (K/9) and 2.71 walks per nine innings (BOB/9).

Taken at face value and equated to the majors, Dombroski's walks average would be top 25 lowest among pitchers. His strikeouts average would be top five in the MLB. Of course, Single-A Fayetteville is still a long way from the Big Show.

"Last year, I thought it was good, but I know I can put a better foot forward and I can do better this year," Dombroski continued. "That's kind of what fuels me at the end of the day, is looking at those stats and saying, alright that was a good first year but we're gonna have to do better."

The thought process of considering the future is only entertained by Dombroski to the extent that it affects the day-to-day. He has a similar thought process when considering the past.

"It's different but it's nothing short of amazing because of the guys around me and how much fun that we had," he said. "One thing I do is I journal every day. So it's kind of cool looking back on some of the days where it's like, that was a good memory."

For as even-keeled as Dombroski is in the early years of his professional career, it's all part of a process of self-sufficiency that began during his time at Monmouth. The journaling is part of the meticulous process of improvement.

'Always feel like I'm written off'

"It's funny, back in my sophomore year of college, I would have like a really good outing and then a bad outing. So I started talking to a sports psychologist," Dombroski said. "One thing she helped me with was keeping track of good days, keeping track of bad days. And blending them together to see what's the difference between the two."

By his second-year of college, it was mostly good outings for Dombroski. He finished that year with a 5-1 record and a 2.73 ERA with 64 strikeouts compared to just eight walks. That strikeout to walk ratio was best in the conference.

The doubts of 2020 were well behind him. Dombroski knew who he was as a pitcher, it was time everyone else got know him too.

"I always feel like I'm written off," he said. "I'm not the guy that's gonna go out there and throw 100 (MPH). I'm the guy that's gonna go out there and be 90 to 92, whatever my (velocity) is, but I'm gonna throw strikes and give myself the best shot get guys out."

After multiple great showings in the Cape Cod Baseball League, Dombroski opened his junior season as a Top 250 draft prospect. His first outing was six no-hit innings in a win over Penn State, a performance that could be considered a rebuke of the recruiting process that didn't consider him to be among the elite prospects in New Jersey. He finished the season with a 3.13 ERA and 6-2 record over 15 starts while striking out 120 batters in 95 innings. He was promptly elevated into the Top 100 of DI Baseball's list of draft prospects in April.

By the time of the 2022 MLB Draft, The Athletic's Keith Law had Dombroski as the 53rd best prospect. Even with that glowing placement, the scouting report hardly sounded optimistic. It took note of the lack of premium arms in that draft and of course, it noted the lack of velocity as a concern relative to giving up home runs.

Dombroski was drafted in the fourth round at 133rd overall, 80 spots below where Law had him ranked.

"I almost always have a chip on my shoulder," Dombroski said. "Which is something that in baseball keeps me going."

He made a renewed commitment to his mindfulness after being drafted: instead of merely journaling before or after games like he did in college, he would journal everyday until the end of his baseball career.

"The thing with pro ball is, you want to be as consistent as possible," Dombroski added. "You don't want the waves. And obviously there are going to be waves, but you want to just do your best to be on an upward trend."

'It's your career, so you have got to take pride in it'

The waves are about three miles from the team hotel in West Palm Beach, but there is no hint of disruption from this moment.

Dombroski's easy-going optimism appears to be a perfect fit for the Astros, who have cultivated a strong organizational culture that has served as the foundation of their incredible run over the past seven years. Houston has made the American League Championship Series every year since 2017, winning the World Series that season and in 2022.

It feels as though Dombroski landed in the perfect spot to continue his development.

"The Astros, one thing they are great with, is they provide absolutely everything to you," he said. "But at the end of the day it's your career, so you have got to take pride in it."

Given all the journaling, Dombroski is asked if there's any single great memory that stands out from his time with the Astros organization.

"It's like one gigantic memory for me," he replied. "And my whole thing is just being around the guys. We come down to this part of the team hotel every night at 6 o'clock and we eat dinner. And I try not to take that stuff for granted. When I'm eating breakfast, I try not to go on my phone. We're at a four person table, try and talk to all the guys, try and sit with different people."

Dombroski has gone through the highs and lows of being a high school standout and then a pitcher struggling to find his on-field identity in college. But the focus on his process never wavered, and the results repeatedly show a pitcher rising to the challenge. Now, pro baseball is just another opportunity to enjoy that process.

"I don't have one memory right now, but it's just trying to make the most of it," he said. "At the end of the day say, You know what? That was a good day and I had fun doing it."