STARLING Bubba

General
HISTORIC MLB DRAFT BONUS
He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round, fifth overall pick, of the 2011 MLB Draft. He turned down an American football scholarship at the University of Nebraska, where he would have played quarterback, to sign for the Royals with a USD$7.5 million bonus over three years - the second-highest ever paid to an MLB draftee at the time. The Royals had been following him since he was in his early teens playing for Gardner-Edgerton High School. "Football was definitely my passion [in high school] and was at the top. But for the Royals to draft me where they did and put their investment into me, it was really special. I'm still happy with the route I chose." (journalstar.com, 24 Jun 2017; royalsreporter.com, 01 Mar 2021; royals.mlblogs.com, 27 Aug 2019; kingsofkaufmann.com, 01 Mar 2021; espn.com, 11 Aug 2011; journalstar.com, 24 Jun 2017)

CLUB JOURNEY
From 2012 to 2018 he spent seven seasons in the Kansas City Royals' minor league system, and was called up for his MLB debut against the Detroit Tigers in July 2019. He played in 91 MLB games in 2019 and 2020. In late 2020, following a series of injuries, he was re-assigned to the Triple-A level Omaha Storm Chaser where he made 27 appearances before being called up to the US squad for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (milb,com, 14 Jul 2021)

CONSIDERING QUITTING
In 2017, while playing for the Triple-A level Omaha Storm Chasers, he said he considered quitting baseball. After six seasons in the minors he doubted whether he would ever make it to the majors. In May that year he worked with Omaha hitting coach Tommy Greggs on improving his batting stance, which proved successful. "It's no different than when you're on the golf course and shoot a bad round. It's like, 'Man, I'm done. I'm never playing golf again.' But then you're back out there the next week. I just stuck with it. I just got through the mental side of it and here I am. I just kept showing up and working hard every day. It was really tough, but that's what my teammates, family, coaches are for - they were there for me when I was struggling. It used to be, 'Man, I'm just trying to put the ball in play and not strike out.' Now it's, 'Where am I going to hit this ball'. I'm thinking about success more than failure now." (royalsreview.com, 07 Jun 2021; royalsreporter.com, 01 Mar 2021; royals.mlblogs.com, 27 Aug 2019)