Minnesota second baseman Zack Raabe has more than proven time and time again that baseball is alive and well in the North Star State. His 31 base hits led the nation a year ago before the season came to an abrupt stop, and he’s slashing .484/.600/1.032 this year through 10 games.

You may notice the inflated slugging number, and that 1.032 isn’t a typo. It’s also not by accident, but we’ll get to that shortly.

Raabe’s father, Brian, also played under legendary head coach John Anderson at the University of Minnesota, doing so from 1987-1990. That’s about 10 years into 14’s career as opposed to Zack, who is with Anderson during his 40th year at the helm of the program. Brian was named an All-American in 1990 and was drafted in the 41st round by his hometown Twins that year. He spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Twins, Mariners and Rockies and currently serves as the head coach at Bethel University at the NCAA Division III level.

So, while Zack is a native of Forest Lake, Minn., Raabe didn’t just go to Minnesota because that’s where he grew up. He was born to be a Gopher.

“It’s an absolute dream come true – it really did come true coming to Minnesota,” Raabe said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I was a die-hard Gopher fan. We had season tickets to go to Gopher games: hockey, football, baseball – we’d go to all of them. I grew up in Minnesota and I’ve always loved Minnesota. Right when I got offered, this was the place I wanted to go.”

“I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else,” Raabe added about playing for head coach John Anderson, affectionately referred to as ‘14’. “Being here and being around him is a dream come true.”

Once a player attributed to hit the ball where it’s pitched – which always seems like a nice thing to say but isn’t always perceived to be a compliment – the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Raabe has spent a lot of time in the batting cage, and the weight room, looking to improve his craft knowing it’s a never-ending process. With that has come added power, as his eight extra-base hits (three doubles, four homers and a triple) in 10 games this year equal the eight (seven doubles and a homer) he hit in 17 games in 2020.

Time, after all, is the one thing baseball players were afforded more of during the pandemic.

“I work with my dad and [assistant coach Packy] Casey a lot,” Raabe said. “Pack Casey is one of the best in the business, I have nothing but good things to say about him. He knows what he’s doing, a hard worker. He studies a lot and helps all of us in ways that I can’t even imagine – they’re over my head. He’s such a good teacher on the mental side of hitting.

“The big thing he worked on with me, and our guys, is the thought process in the box, your approach at the plate, nitpicking that stuff to get the real hitting experience, the real D-I experience because that’s the difference between high school and D-I in my opinion, the mental side.

“I’ve been working a lot with him on my eyes, tracking the baseball all the way in. If you can’t see it, you can’t hit it. He works on that aspect more than any other coach. And same with my dad, we work on tracking the ball and harnessing my mental side of hitting.”

Add in Raabe’s diligent work in the weight room with strength coach Scott McWilliams and you have a physically fit player determined to add power to his already polished hit tool. Just look at the year-by-year triple slash progression to get a sense for how he has improved.

2019: .271/.337/.316

2020: .463/.526/.612

2021: .484/.600/1.032

The power isn’t a fluke. It’s not like he’s hit a stretch in which he’s just seeing the ball better and yanking line drives down the line that clear the fence. He’s driving the ball with authority, more consistently. In fact, his triple this year was mis-called by the umpiring crew after the ball bounced back into the field of play at U.S. Bank Stadium after clearing the fence. Meaning, he should have five dingers right now instead of the four that show up on his profile page.

In that same series, he hit two doubles – one that he launched over the center fielder’s head and just missed clearing the fence – and a home run that couldn’t be mis-called. And in adding power to his swing, he hasn’t lost his approach and has actually become more selective at the plate as evidenced by nine walks and only two strikeouts in those 10 games played.

For as good of a hitter as he is, when you ask Raabe about his goals he doesn’t talk about his numbers, base hits or the draft coming up in June. In fact, he actively avoids those questions until you find a way to ask so he can’t avoid it. He does, however, quickly point out the different things he can do to help his team win.

“That’s Zack. He’s a team-first guy,” Brian Raabe said about his son. “His main goal – and he truly means this – he wants to win first, more than anything else. That’s a big deal to him, it always has been. … He realizes that if he does well that’s great, that probably means the team is doing well. But if he’s not, and if it’s not his day – you know how baseball goes – if he can help in any other way [like] on defense or with his hustle or enthusiasm, then that’s what he’s going to do and bring to the table.”

Brian Raabe’s profile was very similar to his son’s. They’re both righthanded hitting second basemen with smaller statures that really know how to hit. And the elder Raabe is quick to point out that size doesn’t necessarily limit a player’s physical capabilities, mentioning the success of proven big leaguers including Jose Altuve and Dustin Pedroia.

“He’s so technically sound. It’s his swing mechanics, that is why he can do it,” Brian Raabe added. “There’s a lot of players that are a smaller stature but can flat-out hit and hit with pop. Zack’s no different. If you try to throw him away, he can hit a double to right, no problem. You throw him in and he [can drive it] to left-center. Because of that he provides a lot of problems for a pitching staff. They don’t know where to throw him, now they’re trying to trick him, and if they leave a hanging breaking ball up in the zone, he’s going to kill it.”

“I kind of chuckle every time I hear that question because it’s the biggest advantage anyone could have,” Zack Raabe said in response to working with his father. “I’d be lying if I said that I got here on my own. That’s not the case. Obviously, I’ve put the work in and all of that, but my dad has been here every single step of the way. Ever since I was a kid, he was the first person that wanted to go outside to throw whiffle balls to me, play catch with me.”

Raabe points out there have been a lot of people along the way that have helped guide him, including his father, his grandfather, Coach Anderson and the rest of the Minnesota coaching staff. It should also be noted that the family has a close connection to the family of Matt Wallner, another product of Lake Forest, Minn., who opted to play college baseball at Southern Miss.

Wallner returned home, so to speak, in June of 2019 when the Minnesota Twins selected him with the 39th overall pick of the draft.

While Wallner and Raabe are completely different athletes and hitters – Wallner is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound lefthanded slugger that you can’t miss when he takes the field – Raabe values being able to the mind of a close friend, someone that has had a taste, with success, of college baseball and more.

But Raabe isn’t one to look ahead. He clearly is grounded and focused on the present and genuinely is intent on helping his team win. With a 3-8 start to the 2021 season that part has been easier said than done. Work still needs to be done, however, as Raabe and other upperclassmen are focused on helping the first-year players find their way both on and off the field and getting through the rough patches together.

The rest will take care of itself.

“I’m not worried about the draft,” Raabe said. “I’m here to play college baseball. That’s my main focus. That’s my only focus. I just want to win games, I’m a big team guy, I’ve always been that way. I want everyone around me to have success, not just me.”

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