FORT MYERS, Fla. -- If one of the hardest things parents go through is watching their child leave the nest, imagine being Curtis Mead¡¯s parents and having your child roost 10,000 miles away from home.

Mead was just 18 years old when he signed a contract with the Phillies, and he¡¯d have much preferred to have his family by his side a year later as he adjusted to life in the United States. His parents -- with whom he is extremely close -- thought he¡¯d benefit more from full baseball immersion, at least for the first year.

It was a decision Mead wasn¡¯t wild about at the time, but man, has it paid off in spades.

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¡°It was super tough. Year 1 was really hard. My parents made the decision [not to come], which I hated at the time but I¡¯m thanking them now,¡± Mead said. ¡°They just wanted to let me settle in, and I struggled with that a lot.

¡°The first two months were really tough. But then, I started to find my feet. Now, I love being over here. And I know that I need to be over here.¡±

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When Mead made his Spring Training debut on Sunday, it represented another step in the long journey he has made in quite a short time. From Australian Baseball League standout to 18-year-old Phillies signee to Rays No. 2 prospect last season, Mead might have even cracked the big league roster in 2022 if not for a right elbow strain that eventually shut him down in the last month of the season at Triple-A Durham.

Tampa Bay is playing it safe with its top position prospect this season -- Mead was the designated hitter on Sunday; he¡¯ll play third base on Tuesday in Orlando against the Yankees. Manager Kevin Cash said Mead is 100 percent healthy, ¡°but we¡¯ve got to keep him healthy,¡± so the early plan is to play Mead every other game, then move to two days on and one off as he ramps up for the season.

¡°There's a buildup, but I am excited to see him,¡± Cash said of MLB¡¯s No. 33 overall prospect. ¡°We know him, he knows us. But [then] you hear how the mind works, the type of teammate he is, the way he can process information in the game with at-bats and approach of what he wants to do with pitchers, how they're attacking him.

¡°It¡¯s beyond his years.¡±

Not many places are farther from St. Petersburg, Fla., than Adelaide, Australia, where Mead was born, but he keeps in touch often and visits each offseason. Mead has also brought a piece of home with him, with his upright batting stance a nod to his father who suggested it and who coached Mead through his early teens.

Does dad still chip in advice from afar? Of course he does, Mead said, chuckling.

¡°He knows that I have a lot of other high-level coaches now, so we talk more approach and just playing the game the right way, and that sort of thing, rather than mechanical [stuff],¡± Mead said.

Where Mead¡¯s season will go from here is anyone¡¯s guess, but this spring is another step to see how well he can transfer his career Minors slash line of .306/.376/.517 to the big stage. He¡¯ll likely start the season in Triple-A, but Cash did note that the 22-year-old will be ¡°more heavily watched in spring than some other people.¡±

Mead has done a lot of growing up -- on the field and off -- in the past three-plus years, and he has learned along the way to make the most of each experience. A level-headed approach to baseball, and life, has gotten him this far, and there¡¯s no reason to think it¡¯s not going to continue to carry him upward.

And so, as spring wears on, Mead said he¡¯s feeling a little less pressure and a lot more opportunity.

¡°Every level that I've gone to throughout the Minor Leagues, I've tried to just be like, ¡®I've never been here before. So who knows if I can play here? Let's just go out and see what I can do,¡¯¡± he said. ¡°You know, there might be a little bit more pressure I put on myself throughout the first week or two, but I'm hoping once I get up [with the Rays], I can settle in and just enjoy the experience and try and help the team win."