Blue Jays’ Roden puts astrophysics on pause to pursue MLB dream

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Early in 2021, Alan Roden had a decision to make.

His first full season playing Division 1 baseball at Creighton University was going well — so well, in fact, that he might have a chance to be drafted by an MLB team. A lifelong baseball fan from Middleton, Wisc., Roden had fond memories of Milwaukee teams featuring the likes of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and J.J. Hardy building up toward the “glorious” CC Sabathia trade that propelled the Brewers to the 2008 playoffs.

“Iconic run,” Roden recalled. “That was my peak fandom.”

He loved baseball, he just didn’t see it as a career. Physics, on the other hand, had been his focus ever since he enrolled at Creighton. He didn’t play much baseball at first, instead dedicating himself to his classes and his research in astrophysics. His topic of choice?

Here’s how Roden puts it: “Specifically, I studied quasars, which are the super mass of black holes at the centres of galaxies.”

And here’s how the university described Roden’s research in a post congratulating him for receiving a NASA Nebraska space grant:

“(A) project that will be investigating the accretion mechanism that powers the enormous luminosities of quasars by developing and analyzing simulations of black hole accretion.”

Suffice to say there are simpler paths to a university degree. But Roden, the son of a microbiologist and a soil scientist, liked physics so much that he was preparing to continue his studies into graduate school. So when it came time to decide whether to go back to school for a fourth year and finish his degree or enter the MLB draft after hitting .378 for Creighton, the choice was easy: he was going to graduate.

“I had zero anticipation or intention of playing professional baseball,” he recalled in a recent interview with Sportsnet.

A year later, Roden had earned his degree in physics but he had also hit .387 with an on-base percentage of .492 against some of the best college pitching in the country. Intrigued, the Blue Jays took him as an outfielder in the third round, setting in motion a rapid ascent through the Toronto farm system that now has him on the cusp of the major leagues.

Less than three years into his professional baseball career, the detour away from physics has a chance to be a productive one for the 25-year-old Roden, who’s making a strong impression in big-league camp.

“He’s a good kid,” said Gold Glove outfielder Daulton Varsho, a fellow Wisconsinite and one of the big-leaguers Roden looks up to most. “He does everything right. That’s what I think is really tough to find with guys who have had success in the minor leagues: They think they can go their own way. But he’s able to come to big-league camp and do what he’s done and show what he is as a player. Being able to control his anxiety and adrenaline has been pretty fun to watch. He’s going to be really good.”

The first thing that stands out about Roden the player is his unconventional batting stance. A left-handed hitter, he sets up with an open stance, his hands pulled as far behind his left shoulder as possible and his bat tilted so far back, it’s nearly horizontal. Then, as the pitcher delivers, he eases his arms forward and the bat tilts up, ready to hit.

As Varsho said: “It’s an awkward stance, but it works.”

Of that, there’s little doubt. Even in college, it was apparent Roden had exceptional contact skills and plate discipline. Not only did he hit .387 in his draft year, he also drew 29 walks while striking out only eight times. Those skills have translated to the professional ranks, with a .298 average in the minors and nearly as many walks (149) as strikeouts (152) on the way up to triple-A. Earlier this week, MLB Pipeline ranked him the Blue Jays’ No. 5 prospect.

“It’s less numbers that make me feel like I’ve made progress,” Roden said. “It’s more about the things that I’ve learned.”

For Roden, that starts with his preparation. Playing for coach Ed Servais at Creighton, he learned about the importance of game-day routines like reading scouting reports, thinking along with opposing pitchers while on deck and dedicating himself to post-game recovery work. Plus, there’s the mental side — trying to enjoy the games, but making sure he can get back to neutral whether or not he got the results he wanted.

This is a player who takes the details seriously.

“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s the most important thing to me.”

“When he’s working, it’s very different,” added Varsho.

Along with his ability to spray singles and doubles all over the field, Roden also has emerging raw power. He hit 26 doubles and 16 home runs in the upper minors last year, slashing .293/.391/.475 on the season on his way to being named the Buffalo Bisons team MVP. His max exit velocity was 112.2 m.p.h. last year — harder than the hardest hit balls by big-leaguers Marcus Semien, Randy Arozarena and Jackson Merrill.

“It’s coming,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “What he’s working on this spring along with a lot of other guys is when to take (his) shot (at homers). He’s a prime example because he can spit on some pitches, spoil some pitches and get into those spots, and then really give it a go. I think he’s got potential to be a 20-home-run guy to put a ballpark on it, but I think with his age and his approach and his skillset, that’s where we’re hoping it develops to.”

Defensively, the Blue Jays like Roden’s ability but want to see him tested in game situations as often as possible. Working with Varsho and special assistant Kevin Kiermaier should help this spring, and Roden is expected to get some centre-field reps, even if his path to the major leagues is more likely as a corner outfielder.

Despite his background with data, it would be inaccurate to say Roden is all about the numbers. He knows there are limits to analytics and he relies on feel more than data to determine his stance and his routines. But he’s more comfortable with numbers than most — “maybe slightly above average” at math, he acknowledges — and when he talks about hitting, he sounds a little like the physics graduate student he’d be were it not for his baseball career.

“The power comes when you’re moving correctly through a baseball,” Roden said. “So you’re shaping it the right way. You’re trying to do that better and more consistently.

“At the end of the day, at least for me, if I’m moving the right way and I shape (the baseball) right, there’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to go over the fence. So it’s really about how consistently can I shape it.”

That is, shape the ball off the bat — hitting it at just the right angle, something he seems to have a knack for, given his high batting averages and growing home run totals. Since Roden’s not yet on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, it seems likely that challenge will resume in triple-A Buffalo to start the 2025 season. 

Still, the big-league roster is just a call away now. That means his career in astrophysics will have to wait — but those plans haven’t gone anywhere, it’s just that baseball’s in the way for now.

“I would love to (continue in physics),” he said. “It’s a passion project right now, but absolutely, once I’m done playing, I see no reason why I wouldn’t be able to figure out a way to get into it.”

In the meantime, the Blue Jays are glad those studies are on hold.

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