ATLANTA -- Marlins infielder Graham Pauley is a golden retriever in human form. His walk-up song, after all, is Natasha Bedingfield¡¯s ¡°Pocketful of Sunshine.¡±
Pauley had even more of a pep in his step at batting practice ahead of Friday¡¯s series opener against the Braves at Truist Park.
That¡¯s because Pauley last stood on this field in 2018, when he was awarded Georgia¡¯s 7A Player of the Year and was selected to the Atlanta Braves' All-Star team as a junior at nearby Milton High School. At the time, he turned to his mother, Jennifer, and confidently proclaimed: ¡°I'm going to be back here one day playing.¡±
¡°This is his dream come true,¡± Jennifer told MLB.com on Friday.
As Jennifer tells it, the 24-year-old Pauley didn¡¯t really start playing baseball until he was 8. In fact, it was his third sport behind football and basketball. Pauley¡¯s talent, hard work and grounded nature, however, led to a Duke University commitment. He would eventually drop football to focus on baseball and basketball.
Pauley¡¯s story came full circle this weekend for his first homecoming as a big leaguer.
¡°It just kind of happened naturally, and once he started devoting to it, you could see it,¡± his father, Tim, said. ¡°Obviously very proud. [You] kind of pinch yourself, because it's hard to -- no matter how much you think it's going to happen -- you just don't know. And it's such a tough sport. But he's put the work in, and I think he's got everything it takes to be successful, getting through the highs and the lows. That's going to be the key, right?¡±
Quite the contingent turned up for Pauley¡¯s hometown debut: 50 on Friday and another 100 on Saturday. Those in the Truist Field stands, the same ones he sat in for around 20 games a season as a child, included his parents, his brother, Owen, his sister, Ella, and his friends from elementary school.
None of them could make it for Pauley¡¯s Major League debut with the Padres on March 20, 2024, which was more than 7,000 miles away in Seoul, South Korea. During his 13-game cup of coffee with San Diego, he never made it east of Denver. But there was no way his loved ones would miss him playing in his backyard.
And this should be a more regular occurrence after Pauley came over to the Marlins in the Tanner Scott/Bryan Hoeing trade ahead of last year¡¯s Trade Deadline. The Pauley family just didn¡¯t think it would happen this soon, since Miami optioned Pauley, ranked as the organization¡¯s No. 25 prospect, to Triple-A Jacksonville on March 16.
But third baseman Connor Norby strained his left oblique on the second-to-last day of Grapefruit League action, opening up a spot for Pauley on the Opening Day roster. So Tim and Jennifer traveled to Miami for the season-opening Pirates series, then returned home.
¡°It is very surreal,¡± said Jennifer, who said she gets nervous for her son regardless of the playing level. ¡°He's my oldest. I don't know if it's completely sunk in for us, because he's still a kid, he still comes home. In so many respects, he's still young. But you see him up here, and it's just surreal. I think maybe a year from now, it'll hit me.¡±
The left-handed-hitting Pauley has gone from preparing for the Minor League season on the back fields in Jupiter, Fla., to serving as Miami¡¯s primary third baseman when the opposing ballclub starts a right-hander.
Entering Sunday, Pauley has a slash line of .217/.280/.391 with a team-high four doubles and three RBIs in seven games. He snapped an 0-for-11 stretch by doubling to straightaway center and walking on Saturday.
¡°Tons of emotions: nerves, excitement,¡± said Pauley, who had a Freddie Freeman poster on his wall growing up. ¡°It just means a lot to me. My parents, they're the reason that I'm here. ¡ At the end of the day, [I've] just got to breathe and remember it's just baseball, and just go out there and have fun. At the end of the day, I'm going to go home and I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to wake up and do it all again the next day.¡±