Top Toronto Blue Jays prospect almost quit baseball to become an astrophysicist | Daily Hive

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As far as MLB prospects go, Toronto Blue Jays utility man Alan Roden isn’t exactly young.

Now 25 years old and some three years removed from being selected in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Creighton University, Roden is knocking on the door of making his MLB debut with the Blue Jays this season.

With stints at both the Double-A and Triple-A level last season with Toronto’s affiliates in New Hampshire and Buffalo, Roden is one of many players the Jays are considering giving a shot with the big club this season.

Roden hit .293 with 16 homers and 75 RBI in 126 minor league games last season and has remained with the club through the first few weeks of spring training this year.

But in an interview with MLB.com’s CJ Haddad, Roden revealed that he might’ve actually taken quite an out-of-this-world path if he hadn’t become a professional baseball player.

Studying astrophysics while in university, Roden considered becoming a professor — like both of his parents — before he eventually saw his MLB draft stock rise during his time in college.

“Academics was always a huge part of my life,” he said. “[My parents] instilled that work ethic into me growing up. It was always two parts of my being: academics and baseball.”

Roden’s interest in the subject matter was first piqued in high school when learning about the life cycle of stars within the universe, per Haddad.

“That really inspired me and was something I was always interested in,” Roden said. “I took physics in high school and took that into college and ran with it.”

Given that minor league baseball salaries are notoriously much lower than their major league counterparts, perhaps Roden will have an alternative career path to go down one day if this whole baseball thing doesn’t work out.

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