GREEN BAY — For the Straily brothers, Kaden and Tyler, baseball runs in their blood. Right now, the duo is pitching for the Green Bay Rockers, using this season to sharpen their skills on the mound while soaking up some rare quality time as teammates.
“Big baseball family, like everybody in the family is always watching, so it's pretty big,” Kaden said.
Tyler, going into his sophomore year at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, is a left-handed pitcher.
“He's a funky lefty,” his brother Kaden said. “He's kind of weird; he hides the ball really weird. His velo fluctuates a little bit, which honestly makes it harder to hit.”
Kaden, who will be a senior at MSU Denver, is a righty.
“He's definitely a funky righty,” Tyler said. “He's very over the top, kind of throws a little unorthodox, but he's out there, and he just spins stuff that like you wouldn't think about.”
WATCH THE STORY HERE!
The pair weren’t planning on playing together for the Rockers, but it just worked out that way.
“It's awesome, honestly,” Tyler said. “It's something we never thought would ever happen again, we truly never thought we'd play together (again) in our lives.”
The last time the brothers played together, Kaden pitched the final out to help Foothill High School in Nevada win its first state title.
“I was on the top step, and the first one to greet him on the mound, and it meant everything to us,” Tyler said. “It was just awesome getting to share that moment, and we still have pictures of us hugging on the mound postgame and (Kaden) closing it out. I don't think I've seen a smile bigger on his face.”
If their last name sounds familiar, that’s because their cousin, Dan Straily, spent eight years pitching in the major leagues. They say he’s their role model, they talk to him as much as they can, and he has helped them the most with their mental game. Dan is currently the director of pitching development for the University of Oregon.
“You have to have a stable mind,” Kaden said of what Dan has instilled in them. “You can't pitch if you're chaotic and you're thinking about 100 different things.”
“We're lucky enough to go to a lot of games and meet a lot of cool professional guys, and throughout our whole career, he's been one of our bigger role models, and I mean, we modeled our game after him and everything we did,” Tyler said.
The brothers have dealt with injuries in college and are trying to refine their game with the Rockers, but they’re also going to enjoy the last few games they may ever have together as teammates.
“It's just awesome to be able to be like, hey, I shared the field with my brother one last time,” Tyler said.
The brothers only signed half-season deals with the Rockers, and their final day with the team will be June 29.
