MESA, Ariz. — Out of the armies of fresh-faced job-seekers who annually descend upon any gathering of baseball executives, holding prestige-school degrees and seeking to become the next Brian Cashman or Theo Epstein — preferably in a matter of months — came one who was different. This one was smart and eager, like the rest, but also humble and curious and insatiable of mind, perfectly splitting the difference between being knowledgeable and knowing there was everything still to learn.
This one, who came out of the University of Virginia already fluent in the language of spin-rates, release-points and launch angles, was up for any task, from the menial to the clerical to the analytical, and had by that point, in the spring of 2015, already completed a series of internships in baseball, doing everything from selling tickets to analyzing draft prospects.