I recently had the chance to briefly speak with a new reliever for one of the Yankees minor league affiliates, Travis MacGregor. I had previously written about Travis in another article, where I recapped the off-season adds the Yankees had made. You can view the interview in its entirety at the end of this transcript.
John Brophy: I’d briefly written about you and your career in baseball, but tell our readers a little bit more about yourself.
Travis MacGregor: Yeah, um. I mean, this is going on through now, my 11th year in professional baseball. 11 years in the Minors. Still looking for the Major League call-up. Still chasing that dream? And, um, you know, it’s been fun. I was drafted by the Pirates, and I was with them for eight years. I re-signed with them in my first free agency, and then I went to the Angels, and then last year I was with the Rangers and the Brewers. And then obviously this year, I’m with the Yankees now. So, and it’s been fun.
JB: And, how’s your offseason been so far? They know we’re like, kind of, halfway there. I saw something on social media where we’re at the Spring Training Equinox or something like that. So, how’s that been going for you?
TM: It’s been good. Yeah, we’re kind of at that point where guys are starting to get back into bullpens. And the real ramp up process has begun. And, you know, feeling good, ready to go for it all.
JB: So, you’re from nearby Tarpon Springs. I’m a little bit north of you in Spring Hill, up [US] 19.
Did you grow up as a Rays fan, or did you root for another team?
TM: Yeah, I did grow up as a Rays fan. Actually, funny enough, my parents live in the Spring Hill area, so I’m pretty familiar with that area.
JB: What’s it like playing for a potential divisional rival [of the Rays]? Because I was thinking to myself, you know, hypothetically speaking, you could potentially make your major league debut in Tropicana Field, right?
TM: There’s potential for that, for sure. You know, I mean… my love for the Rays, I guess you know as a fan, has come and gone. And you know, now that I’m in professional baseball, it’s, you know, I’m a fan of the team that I’m on.
JB: Exactly, yeah, it’s all a business.
TM: It would certainly be cool, you know, if that were to be the case where I were to debut in Tropicana Field, and man, I’d certainly have a big crowd there, I’m sure.
JB: I’ll tell you what: if that happens, I mean, I’m gonna be at every Yankees game, you know, God willing whenever they come to town with one of the outlets that I’m with, but, I’ll be there for sure. And you know, I’ll be rooting you on from Spring Training and down here in Tampa and all that.
TM: Well, I appreciate it.
JB: So, speaking of the area, since you were drafted out of high school by the Pirates, East Lake, I think, is what I saw in your profile, and they’re [the Pirates] based in Bradenton. What’s it like knowing you’ll be spending your Spring down here again after spending it out West the past couple years?
TM: It’ll be really nice, you know? I live right around the corner, so it’s… it’ll be sweet, just being able to do Spring Training, you know, from home, and certainly going out west was a neat experience, and something I’m grateful for getting to go do and, it’s just nice to return back home for spring, and get to have some family and friends out there for all the Spring games.
JB: Have you been out to the complex yet in Tampa?
TM: No, I have not. I’m actually trying to make my way out there at some point here before Spring Training starts.
JB: Yeah, cuz that’s one of the things that I’m excited for, is, you know, I have a countdown timer on my phone, you know, when the report date is… I don’t even know. There’s not even a public report date. I’m just kind of guessing [that] it’s probably right around Valentine’s Day. But yeah, I’m just excited to get everything going back together again because I’m lost without baseball, I’m sure like many of our fans are, and with everything going on, and you know, “Yankees aren’t doing anything”. And you know, all this nonsense.
TM: You know, everyone’s getting the itch. Everyone’s ready to get back into the baseball world again.
JB: Is there a particular pitch that you’ve been working on in the off-season, like something that was kind of nagging you a little bit during the season last year?
TM: You know, something that I was kind of given the task to try and focus on was a fastball. They’re wanting me to try and find a little more vert [vertical movement] on it, I believe, and you know, they’ve got some changes they want to make with it, so, [I’m] doing some little stuff like that, you know, as of right now, I’ve been seeing some good improvements on it.
JB: So, speaking of the fastball, I have watched a couple of your outings from last year, mostly with the Frisco RoughRiders. I came away very impressed. There was an outing against Springfield, I think it was. I don’t remember the date, it was just… I just picked a game. It was one of your longest outings. It seems like you don’t… you’re like a middle reliever or a setup guy kind of thing, right?
TM: Yeah, with Frisco, I was, you know, kind of their eighth inning guy, and then with the Brewers I closed for them.
JB: How would you describe yourself as a pitcher? And what’s your favorite pitch to throw out of your arsenal?
TM: Yeah, I mean, you know, I’m a pretty aggressive pitcher. I, you know, have no problem being in the zone. I feel like I play well in the zone, and certainly, my favorite pitch is my fastball. That’s kind of the bread and butter for me.
JB: Yeah, that was the one that I was really liking a lot. It was, it has a little bit of that float at the end. Yeah, you threw one up and in, and the guy had no idea what was coming. He just swung at it. I was like, “yeah, I like that”. That’s [the pitch type is] one of my favorite things.
JB: So, I ask everyone I interview about their favorite place to visit and favorite place to eat in the Tampa area. Since you’re from here, is there a special place, or places I guess, that come to mind?
Well, maybe on the, I guess, a little bit of the fancier side, I enjoy going to Meat Market every now and then in Tampa. And then on kind of the more laid back side, a little place that my wife and I like to go to every once in a while, it’s called Noble Crust. Kind of like a pizza, American type of food. But, uh, yeah, no, those are the two that I definitely visit a lot. And then different sushi restaurants, a big sushi guy.
JB: It’s funny because a lot of the baseball players, I would say, probably 85-90 percent of the baseball players, their answer is Chipotle. Like they don’t, they don’t explore. They’re just like, “you know, what? I’m gonna find a Chipotle, I’m good to go, I know I can get my protein there. and you know, I get a little bit of vegetables kind of in”, and I’m like, “there’s a lot more out there than Chipotle.” Like, you go around the corner from Steinbrenner Field, and there’s Florida Bakery, there’s all these Cuban restaurants.
TM: I visit Chipotle quite a bit as well, but, I figured the fast food stuff was kind of out of the question here. [both laugh]
JB: On your profile…. I mean, this is just one of those probably paperwork things. You’re assigned to Somerset, Double-A Somerset. I would assume given where you’ve been, because you’ve been with AAA Indianapolis before with the Pirates. I would assume that they would put you in Triple-A. If you had to give yourself like a self-grade, where do you think you would fit with the Yankees?
TM: You know, I mean, that’s… that’s a tough one to really give you a straight answer on, because honestly, I don’t know where I would fit in with them, just kind of as I, you know, I don’t know everything that’s going on in there yet, you know, I’ll step foot in there and figure things out. But, I’m sure Spring Training will, you know, everything will kind of level out, and we’ll figure out where everyone needs to be.
Of note, in the outing shown above, MacGregor went 1-2/3 perfect innings, striking out 3 batters, the best outing of that length for the 2025 season.
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