Angel Cespedes’ Hopeful Journey and Pursuit To Become a Pro Ball Player

Becoming a collegiate student athlete is tough in itself. However, growing up in a misfortunate situation, overcoming injuries, and staying a student athlete until the day you graduate is a challenge met exclusively by the most determined and resilient.

Angel Cespedes is a 23 year-old right hand pitcher for Barry University. Although Angel’s life is in a great situation currently, the odds were not always in his favor. Cespedes grew up in a city called Passaic. Passaic is listed as having an 84% higher crime rate compared to the rest of the cities in New Jersey. Cespedes describes Passaic as the “inner city” and when he was younger he wished he’d been born somewhere else. However, Cespedes states that overtime as his playing career allowed him to live in different places and states, his perception changed about the city he grew up in.

“As a child, encountering all of those different hardships and adversities makes you a man at an early age and gives you good judgement”.

While moving away gave him a new sense of appreciation for his hometown, Cespedes’ challenges did not halt once he left New Jersey. Out of high school Cespedes received a scholarship to play for a school in Texas. Unfortunately, that same year he began to deal with nagging tendinitis in his forearm. The injury caused his pitching velocity to drop down into the low 80s. Cespedes describes that dealing with the injury was “very overwhelming” and caused him to feel “lost and confused”. 

Uncertain about his future or if he would pitch again, Cespedes made the decision to transfer to a school close to his home in New Jersey. He explains that it was when he made the change of schools that he started to focus heavily on training and physical therapy. By spring time the next year Cespedes was fully healthy. 

“The right way is to face your challenges head on and to find the solution. I don’t like escaping my problems because that’s not what a real man does”, Cespedes explains.

Cespedes’ pitching career was starting to reach new heights and he was looking forward to moving on from his school and transferring to a D1. Sadly, Cespedes was not able to achieve that goal due to his grades. He explained that his biggest regret so far would be not taking his academics more seriously. Through his first couple of years in college Cespedes failed a few classes which caused him to repeat a year of school.  Cespedes had gone through another major setback, however he asserts that reading books is what ultimately altered his life for the better. 

“By reading books I developed character, a sense of faith, and gained knowledge of principles I use everyday”, Cespedes says. “Reading books was really life changing and shifted my paradigm.” 

As a result of his new way of thinking, Cespedes was no longer a victim to his own carelessness. He passed all of his classes and graduated last year with an associate’s degree in science. When asked about what motivates him most, Cespedes explained that he’s “very goal oriented” and that’s what motivates him everyday. 

“One of my biggest goals right now is to become a pro ball player and I work towards that everyday.” Cespedes says that his two biggest role models have been his cousin Kev and pro baseball pitcher Sandy Alcantra. Cespedes says that his cousin is his only family member that has become a successful businessman. Cespedes and his cousin both grew up in Passaic. “It shows me that if he can do it, I can do it too”. Jokingly, Cespedes added that he idolizes Sandy Alcantra due to his all-star worthy pitching and because they look alike.

Cespedes says that his biggest fear is not reaching his goals and having a lack of success in his life. “In the future I want to be in a better position, where I’m relaxed and can reflect back on the past and be happy with myself.”

Cespedes pitched in the highly respected MLB draft league this past summer and hopes to be the ace for BarryU this coming spring.