2023 Arroyo Grande High School graduate Ryan Tayman was sent up to Utah to play baseball for the MGF Marshalls this summer before his freshman bid for the Cal Bears.
The catcher and utility player verbally committed to play baseball for Cal Berkeley when he was 15 and officially put pen to paper in November of 2022.
Tayman finished the Summer season with a .405 batting average, leading the league with 13 home runs, 13 doubles, and 45 RBIs crediting the faster pitching and increased spin rates to help him focus more during his at-bats.
"One thing I realized I think with faster pitching, which is at the collegiate level, like I was able to compete more instead of putting expectations on myself with high school pitching," Tayman noted.
Tayman played against a majority of college underclassmen where he dominated, hitting three home runs in one game including a solo shot 400 feet over the center field fence with an exit velocity of 107 mph.
“I think with breathing and like being relaxed, it allows me to see the ball better," Tayman said. "So I put myself in a better counts and swung at better pitches. I was just able to put more balls into play consistently and harder, too.”
The incoming freshman was able to play alongside five other Cal Berkeley players where he played in 35 of 38 games, 15 as a catcher.
"It taught you how to treat your body... like knowing how to push yourself and when not to," Tayman added.
Tayman’s hitting instructor, Mike Murphy, has watched the utility player progress throughout the years and says his only flaw is his obsessive dedication to the sport.
“Last year around this time we had a conversation," Murphy said. "He was about 180 pounds and he'd been playing a lot of baseball. I said take a little break and just kind of work on your body parts and put some weight on. Six weeks went by and I texted him where you been? And he's like, 'Oh, you told me to put weight on.' So he comes in that following day and he put on 35 pounds of muscle in six weeks… Not to jump the gun but I think he’ll be at the highest level just by the way he works.”
