Los Angeles Dodgers: praying Andrew Toles can get back on track
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles has not played in the majors since 2018 and may not get back in the league, and that doesn’t matter right now.
Andrew Toles achieved a dream hundreds of thousands of people aspire to accomplish. He was a Major League Baseball player. He also is facing a harsh reality which is bigger than the game he played. Anxiety is real.
Fame, fortune, and playing baseball at the highest level can not mask the demons Toles is currently battling.
His troubled past has seen Toles dismissed from his college team for breaking team rules. The issues did not stop the Tampa Bay Rays from selecting him in the third round of the 2012 draft. He spent three years in the Rays system before asking for his release, so he could go home and sack groceries at the local store in his home town in Georgia.
More Dodgers. A second round sleeper. light
Toles resurfaced with the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent parts of three seasons playing at the major league level. In 2016 when the Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS, Toles batted .462 and led the team in runs scored.
Currently on the Dodgers restricted list, Toles has not appeared in a baseball game, major or minor, since 2018.
He was in the news earlier this week for having been found sleeping behind a Florida airport. After police officers asked him numerous times to leave, Toles was arrested.
A history of mental health issues should now be the focus for Andrew Toles and the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Major League Baseball need to step in and do what they can to assist this young man.
Getting back on the playing field should be the least of his worries, as Toles needs to focus on himself and his well being first.
Recently Clint Manry and Jeff Kallman have touched on the depression, anxiety, and angst, specific baseball players have faced. Whether the high stakes, high pressure situations which go along with the game are a part of these feelings, it is unfortunate to see young men suffer such anguish.
dark. Next. Projecting the 2020 Dodgers lineup
Forget Andrew Toles the ballplayer and pray for Andrew Toles the person.