Minor league players from area still have hopes for 2020 season

As he waits to cash a paycheck again, young pitcher Lake Bachar understands it's all about potential gains.

Fact is, 2020 could go down as the most rewarding year of his life.

After all, Bachar, a Wheaton North graduate and minor league pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization, plans to marry his fiancee Stephanie in November. Before that, if he pitches well this summer and the opportunity presents itself, he could make his big-league debut.

And if that happens, the 24-year-old righty would be the first MLB player ever with the first name Lake.

Talk about making a splash.

"That would be the goal, to be the first Lake up there," Bachar, adding that his grandma didn't like his first name at first because she thought it sounded like a resort, said with a laugh.

In the meantime, Bachar, like every minor league player, focuses on staying positive and in baseball shape. Since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down baseball last month, forcing Bachar to leave the Padres' spring training facility in Peoria, Ariz., he has been living in Wisconsin with Stephanie, who's a teacher.

Last year, while spending nearly the entire summer with the Class-AA Amarillo Sod Poodles in Texas, he compiled a 3.93 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 132⅔ innings. The Padres called up four players from Amarillo last year, so Bachar knows the importance of this season.

"I bought a net off Amazon so I can play catch by myself," said Bachar, who graduated from Wheaton North in 2013 and was drafted by the Padres in the fifth round in 2016 out of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. "There's a field down the road where I can long toss, and I have a couple of weights here. It's basically just throwing every day and lifting when I can just to stay in shape, so I'm ready for that phone call whenever we need to go back."

Last week, MLB announced it will pay its minor league players $400 per week through at least May 31 or until the start of the minor league season. Bachar welcomed the news like he would a called-third strike.

"I think that will be big for a lot of people," he said. "We go the whole offseason without getting paychecks, unless you work a side job, so this is what we're waiting for, that April time when we're starting to get paid."

"When I heard about (the $400 per week), I was like, 'Well, there's my food money for the week,' " said Ryan Weiss, a 2015 South Elgin graduate and pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. "Throughout the whole (COVID-19 pandemic) there are a lot of people that are getting let go from their job, so we're just blessed that we're in a fortunate enough situation where we can get paid."

Weiss has been quarantining in North Carolina after living in Arizona during the offseason. He's been throwing bullpens and pitching into a net. He even found a beach volleyball court where he can run in sand to stay physically fit.

"I'm trying to keep it unique and do stuff that I normally wouldn't do during the season to change it up a little bit and not be bored," Weiss said.

A fourth-round pick out of Wright State in 2018, Weiss has used some of his signing bonus to make ends meet financially. After spending most of last season in Low-A Kane County, a strong July earned him a promotion to High-A ball in Visalia, Calif.

"I just want to play," Weiss said. "You can set all your goals that you want to achieve throughout the season, but none of that can happen if you don't even start playing."

Back home in Fox Lake, after leaving the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., Grant graduate Ryan Noda (Class of 2014) is struggling to find places to hit. A 15th-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2017, the lefty slugger has belted 40 homers in three minor league seasons.

"My father and I lift together like we do in the offseason when I come home," Noda said. "I'm just trying to get as much done as I can get done. With baseball fields being closed, I'm having to hit in the backyard off a T into a net. I'm not getting done what I'd like to get done, but enough to keep me in good enough shape so when I get the call back I can get back into it."

Noda spent the last two offseasons working toward finishing his degree in sports administration and needs only to complete a capstone course to earn his diploma. When baseball resumes, the recently turned 24-year-old looks to make the jump from High-A.

"The mind set for me is to be a beast in New Hampshire (Class AA)," he said. "It's a pretty big year for myself as far as being able to show what I got still."

What he has is financial support from MLB.

"(Baseball) is not really a job, but for us it is," Noda said. "It's how we make some money. Every little bit helps. We're all grateful that we get something."