‘You have a purpose’: Marlins reflect on how fatherhood has impacted their lives

Bryan De La Cruz doesn’t have to look too far to remember who he’s playing for. Hanging just below his neck on a silver chain is a picture of his two kids, Eliel and Noriel, going down a slide.

“Three years ago, God blessed me with the opportunity to be a father, and it did change a lot,” De La Cruz said. “They became my motivation, my strength. Every time I go to the baseball field, if I’m feeling tired, if I’m feeling like I want to go run away or something like that, I see a picture of them and I know why I get up every morning, why I do what I have to do, why I have to grind. They are the reason of my life and that’s why I keep them very close to me all the time. Every time I feel sad or powerless, I just see them and I get all the energy.”

De La Cruz isn’t the only player in the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse who shares that sentiment. Of the 26 players on the team’s active roster, about half of them are either fathers or, in the case of relief pitcher Tanner Scott and utility player Garrett Hampson, are soon-to-be fathers.

And there’s a consensus among them: Becoming a parent changed their perspective on life and how they approach evaluating their performance on the field, with the outlook shifting away from themselves individually and more toward setting a proper example for their children.

“You have a purpose,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, father of son Brody and daughter Presley. “I’ve said it before that I don’t want to be defined as a baseball player or manager. It’s the kind of dad and husband you are. My kids are everything to me and I felt that through my parents. You try to take what you learned — and parenting is not easy, by the way; it’s hard — but you try to do the best you can from what you’ve learned.”

His players, from the new fathers to the veterans of parenthood, echoed that.

“Being a dad truly changed my life,” said Jorge Soler, a father of two (son Jorley and daughter Leysa). “Once you’re a dad, everything’s about them. I see life through my kids’ eyes. Everything I do is just for their well being. I want to make sure they have tomorrow and the future is always good.”

Added third baseman Jean Segura: “When you become a dad, you need to be careful with what you do and your attitude because they watch you. As a dad, you want everything to be in the right direction. For me, that’s take care of my kids, teaching them how to be a good person.”

And first baseman/designated hitter Garrett Cooper: “It’s the best excitement. Hitting a game-winning homer is great, but seeing your family’s reaction to it is a lot better.”

Cooper is the father of 15-month-old Olivia, who was born right at the start of spring training last season. Cooper admitted that before his daughter’s birth that he would let bad days at the field stay with him when he got home. It was a bad habit that followed him from college and the minor leagues.

Now? He’s a lot calmer and relaxed after games, regardless of the results. He thanks Olivia for that.

“There’s so much more to life than just baseball,” Cooper said. “We’re kind of programmed to come in here eight months a year, every single day. People tend to forget that just as humans we have the same emotions of being a dad as anybody else. I think she takes away the bad stretches and the bad times because she doesn’t really care how well or how bad you do. There’s always excitement when she sees you after a game. ... It makes it a lot easier because once you step out of the clubhouse, she’s there and you kind of tend to forget what you did good or bad that day.”

Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez, a father of two girls (Emma and Esther) with baby girl No. 3 on the way, echoed those thoughts and said being a dad is “one of the most beautiful things of my life.”

“When I come home and see my daughters walk around,” Arraez said, “they just want to play with me.”

And they try to spend as much time with their kids as they can. Family time isn’t always easy to come by during the season. Players are at the field basically all day during the season and are on the road almost every other week during the season.

“That’s the least favorite part of my job is not being able to be with my family in the season as much as we’d like to,” said shortstop Joey Wendle, the father of three boys (5-year-old Jack, 3-year-old Luke and 6-month-old Noel. “As the kids get older, that becomes more and more challenging. For me, I try to to take any time with my children for granted, especially now that the time is a little bit more limited. Just always make sure to be intentional with them — to make time to go to the park or to pitch to them for the 20th time of the day, whatever it may be. Just make sure they know they are very, very important, very, very special to me and more important than my job or anything that could come with it.”

Dylan Floro, who has two daughters ages 7 and 3, understands that far too well. His family still lives in California, so he really only gets to see them during the Marlins’ West Coast trips. He does what he can to make the most of that time and stay active with them through FaceTime.

“You miss quite a bit,” Floro said. “My daughter is going to school now. She’s starting cheerleading and all that. I miss quite a bit of that. ... Whenever we go to San Fran or Oakland or LA, it’s nice to get to see them for a week or whenever we’re out in that area. That’s always nice.”

And at the end of the day, it’s a reminder of the bigger things in life.

“No matter what happens here or in my day at work,” Floro said, “they always have a smile on their face. That helps me be a little more positive.”