**Former Cerritos College baseball player, Jared Robinson, prepares for spring training as a non-roster invitee with the New York Mets. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)**

NORWALK – Cut from his high school baseball team, former Cerritos College standout pitcher Jared Robinson is oh so close to making it to the Major Leagues.

Robinson, currently in the New York Mets organization, received an invitation to the Mets spring training camp with the big leaguers, which will begin next week with the reporting of pitchers and catchers in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

It’s been a long road to this lifetime opportunity for the 26-year-old Bishop Amat graduate, who didn’t play baseball in his senior year for the school.

On his second consecutive year getting an invite to the big league spring training camp, Robinson said: “The nerves will be a little more calm and the jitters a little more calm,” said Robinson, who has been playing since he was six-years-old. “I’ve been through it and I know what has to be done and know how to carry myself in the locker room and off the field. That will be one advantage I have going into this year.”

Longtime Cerritos College Baseball coach, Ken Gaylord, commented on how his arm was rested coming into college.

“He obviously had a good arm, but a fresh arm, like a fresh canvas,” said Gaylord, who guided the Falcons for 25 years. “(Pitching coach) Benny (Gonzalez) did an amazing job with him.”

Gaylord compared former Falcon and major leaguer, Rod Barajas, to Robinson.

“Back in the days we had kids like Jared, who is a very humble young man” said Gaylord, who guided the Falcons to 10 conference titles. “He (Barajas) was like Jared.”

Barajas, who graduated from Santa Fe High School and played for Gaylord in 1994-’95, went on to a 14-year MLB career and is currently a coach for the San Diego Padres.

Robinson has been in the Cleveland Indians organization since he was drafted out of Cerritos in 2014 in the 11th round and was also invited to Spring Training with the Indians big league club last year. After he became a free agent in the minor leagues in 2020, Robinson was signed by the Mets last November 20 on his birthday.

His draft day in June of 2014 was mentally draining for Robinson.

“It was just one of those moments that you least expected it,” remembered Robinson. “All of a sudden I hear my brother Julian say, ‘Jared Robinson, 11th round to the Cleveland Indians.’ He shows me on the lap top on the screen, there was my picture.

“I was just like, wow, this is something else. It was one of those days I can never forget.”

Being cut from his high school team didn’t derail the 6-0, 190 Lb. right-hander in the least as he excelled in Soccer and Track and Field. He continued to play baseball in summer leagues and a scout team (Play Hard Halos) out of Pasadena. Meanwhile, he kept getting stronger and adding to his velocity on the mound, while also playing the field.

Asked why he was cut from the program, Robinson simply said, “That’s the one thing I wish I knew the answer to.”

Robinson was left wondering what happened, but he just stayed in shape while playing soccer and waiting for track to begin in the spring.

“Running track built up my stamina going into my freshman year over at Cerritos and I was well conditioned,” Robinson said. “I was ready.”

In his freshman year, Robinson finished with a 3-7 record on the mound and struck out 71 batters in 78 innings. At the plate he hit .253, had seven doubles, three triples and drove in 15 runs.

However, something happened between his first and second year at Cerritos. His velocity improved from the high 80’s to the low 90’s.

“It was a lot of mental things,” Robinson said. “I felt like my skill level was there and I was at about 89 to 92.

“It was a lot of mental stuff working with coach Gaylord and the new pitching coach we had, Benny Gonzalez. We worked on my cutter and slider and just perfecting everything I could do. It just felt so much easier. It felt effortless, going into that next season. I just had a chip on my shoulder (from high school).

“Just being told that (I) wasn’t dedicated enough in high school surprised me. I was all about sports. He (Bishop Amat coach) couldn’t see it.”

Before Robinson’s sophomore year, his velocity went up and the training was just perfecting my technique, which included the mental aspect of the game, just awakening that beast.”

That summer Robinson was playing at the Compton Urban Youth Academy for a team called the Academy Barons.

A scout, at the time for Atlanta, came up to Robinson and approached him which was the first time he was approached by anyone of that caliber. “I thought it was a joke,” Robinson said.

After he played in an All-Star game for the Academy, he received more attention. By the time of his first game of his sophomore season against College of the Canyons the word was out.

“There were about 30 scouts in the stands for me and this lefty hitter,” Robinson said. “It was one of the biggest games to be at. It was the home opener (2014 season) and I had a hell of a game.

“I didn’t give up any runs and had (seven) strikeouts and after the game there was a bunch of envelopes from the scouts on my bag.”

He was overwhelmed of all of the attention and said, “…it was just one of those amazing feelings. To just think that I didn’t play my senior year (high school) and wasn’t on anybody’s radar and nobody who knew who you were, it was go time.”

Gaylord told of his change from his first year to his second year.

“In his first year he couldn’t maintain the pace, but his sophomore year coaches Benny (Gonzalez) and Hector Zamora really changed him,” Gaylord said. “Jared was one of those guys who just got better every day.”

Jared echoed those very sentiments about his two coaches.

“Just playing in that stadium (Wally Kincaid Stadium) and with the football stadium as a back drop and playing under coach Gaylord, Benny Gonzalez and Hector Zamora was just one of those things you can’t say it would’ve been better. That coaching staff was one of a kind.”

Robinson excelled at Cerritos and finished his sophomore year with a 10-4 record, three saves and a 2.23 ERA, while leading the Falcons to a South Coast Conference title, while being named Player of the Year. In addition, he was named to the California Community College Athletic Association All-State Team.

In 93 innings of work in 18 games, Robinson struck out 63 batters and finished the season with seven consecutive wins.

He also started the first game of the playoffs for the Falcons and went eight innings, allowing no runs.

With the bat, he was just short of the .300 mark (.299) and led the team with 11 doubles and 22 RBIs. He also stole 11 bases.

In his six years in the minors with Cleveland, Robinson had a 3.87 ERA, 325 strikeouts, 146 walks in 383.2 innings.

Jared’s breakout year, 2019, was in the last full season before the pandemic hit in 2020, when he advanced from High-A (Lynchburg, VA) to Double-A (Akron, OH) and finally Triple-A (Columbus, OH). On those three teams, he struck out 97 batters in only 70 innings and had an ERA of 3.34.

Robinson, who recently visited Cerritos before leaving for spring training, was getting ready to throw a few pitches off of a rather, weather-beaten and unused mound due to the lack of use because of Covid, suddenly flashed back to his college playing days.

“It feels like I’m getting ready to throw an intrasquad,” Robinson said. “We’ve got a game this coming Thursday and all I can do is look around and I get all of these flashbacks. I can just see my teammates getting into their positions right now. I can just hear students walking around and a tennis match (courts adjacent to the field) going on and it just brings me back to those good old days, playing the game you love.”

He sets the scene: “Gaylord’s over there on his reclining chair getting ready to scream at one of us for not hustling or something,” Robinson said with a laugh. “Benny (Gonzalez) is letting me know, ‘hey we’re going nice and easy today because we have a game tomorrow and just throw strikes and just do what you do best.’ It just feels right.”

Catching him these days for his weekly bullpens is family friend and his Jared’s wife’s cousin, Gus Hernandez. “I catch him about once a week and I tell him, ‘give me everything you got’,” Hernandez said. Hernandez was referring to a 97 mph Robinson fastball.

“His location is spotting up a lot better and he’s a lot sharper,” he added.

Since Robinson was spending the week preparing at home for his upcoming season and packing for spring training, his “official weekly bullpen session” took place at Cerritos College.

“This was my last bullpen before I head out Saturday to Port St. Lucy for the Mets Spring Training,” Robinson said. “It seems like before every new beginning, this is where I came to. This mound right here… this field. It started for me before I signed with the Cleveland Indians back in 2014. This was my last game here throwing and something spectacular happened in the following months and it seems like yet again, I’m back here throwing on this field and I’m getting the opportunity to be with the New York Mets for this upcoming season and it feels phenomenal.”

Robinson, who has been training this last year at Reidt Fitness Systems in Costa Mesa, gives a lot of credit to owner Josh Reidt.

“I just had to stay ready all year (2020) long,” he said. “Working out here, I was just keeping my body right. Josh, he’s one of the best. The majority of these guys here are professionals... major leaguers, minor leaguers and the list goes on.

“When you come here, it’s one big family. It’s a brotherhood. Being welcomed here, this is where I want to be every off season.”

The facility has every type of training apparatus, which includes ropes, sleds, multiple weights and keeps up-to-date on all of the Covid restrictions. In addition, there is a full time Physical Therapist and two trainers, while Reidt is the only one that trains the athletes.

Reidt says they will be expanding soon and will have permanent pitching facilities.

Including his mom and dad, Sandra and John, his wife Nichole and son Mason, they will all be watching again this season and waiting for that magical moment when he hopefully makes it to the Show.

What they said:

Jared Robinson: “Going through that whole process (with all of the scouts), my parents would come to my games and gave me the love and support and I knew that it was going to be a life-changing moment for me.”

John Van Gaston, Cerritos Sports Information Director: “When (Jared) showed up as a freshman, the coaches said he was probably one of the best two-way players that they’ve had here in years. He came out and proved it in both of his seasons here and he just seemed to have that intangible that managers and coaches at the next level look for. He’s worked hard and he’s earned every step he’s made up the minor league ladder and hopefully he’ll get a real shot with the Mets.

The (Cerritos) coaches saw something in him and saw ways to make adjustments and he believed in it and followed through to work on it. It’s proven to be successful.

(Former pitching coach) Benny Gonzalez played here and he was a great pitcher and great pitching coach. All of the guys loved playing for him. He spoke their language.

Being here as long as I have, you get an opportunity to experience success stories like Jared. That’s always rewarding and it’s nice to be here to see it as it develops.”

Ken Gaylord, former Cerritos coach: “”I went out in the summer at Marina High to see Jared and he was dealing. He was very athletic. He was lights out at Marina. He was a good kid and his height wasn’t ideal, but he was throwing 97-98 MPH.”

Gus Hernandez, East L.A. College baseball alum and family friend of Robinson: “You could tell he put a lot more muscle on him and he’s been doing a lot more work and the ball is moving more.

Cerritos has a great tradition and you know getting drafted out of a (Community College), you know you have something good.”

Nichole Robinson, Jared Robinson’s wife: “It’s exciting (for Jared), coming on to a new team (Mets) and different organization. It’s our first time being away from (Jared) for spring training. With Cleveland, we would travel to Arizona (for spring training) every weekend to see him.

We met in dance class at Cerritos in the fall semester. I would go to all the games and saw all of the scouts in the stands.

I’ve seen him grow so much through the years. It’s going to be a totally different situation with Covid this year.

Our son Mason (6) is our little baseball star in the making. He played little league on the Cubs (before the pandemic) and is fun to watch and plays every position.”

Josh Reidt, Owner, Reidt Fitness Systems: “The main thread here is the mutual respect for all of us. It truly is one big family here.

There is a very quiet confidence about (Jared) and I picked up on that on day one. Jared hasn’t taken a day off since he’s been here. All these athletes are self motivated, which is great, so I can just train and coach and teach.

We address the goals that these athletes in here want to address. We also put an emphasis on that your moment is right in front of you face. And, you can’t slack.

Every workout is written and programmed by me for all of these guys.”

Jared Robinson is beating the odds

What they said: