March 24, 2023

By Christian Lazar

Centennial Sports Journalism

DUNEDIN, Fla - One season after getting selected in the third round of the Major League draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, Alan Roden credits his time at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., for the person – and player – that he is today.

The 22-year-old from Middleton, Wis., had a standout college career, earning Big East Freshman of the Year honours in 2021, and following it up with sharing the conference’s Player of the Year title in 2022, before Toronto took him 98th overall in June.

Roden acknowledged that Creighton head coach Ed Servais’ teachings are a big reason why he might have a leg up on the competition entering pro ball.

“At Creighton, coach Servais preached very firmly and strongly on being prepared, especially on the mental side,” said Roden, “I think that’s one of the things that can set me apart.”

Even before arriving on campus in Omaha, he had a strong feeling he was going to have a good relationship with his college skipper.

“Anticipating what it would be like to play under coach Servais, the conversations I had with him when I was getting recruited, were all things that were positive,” Roden said.

The Blue Jays prospect also explained how important it is to him to not just learn from the lows, but from the highs as well to be better long term.

“That’s a huge part of baseball … learning how to accept failure but also how to accept success,” said Roden. “Having success is just earning more opportunities to continue to work hard.”

This spring the corner outfielder had an opportunity that not many first-year players get – he’s appeared in two Major League spring training games, against the Tigers on Feb. 28 and March 20.

“It was kind of a culmination of a lot of different things,” Roden said, “the support that I’ve gotten from my family, my girlfriend, just everyone that was in my life. It was really cool, [a] great experience.”

It was an opportunity that the lefty hitter didn’t take for granted.

“(I) just tried to take it in and enjoy it, because nothing’s guaranteed.”