How Tim Corbin's Advice is helping Dom Keegan as he Pursues Major League Dream

Former Vanderbilt star Dominic Keegan straps on his catchers’ gear, runs out to home plate and goes about his business knowing that one more promotion will put him in the major leagues. But, whenever Keegan catches himself thinking that way, he knows something within his mindset has to change.

Before the current Durham Bulls catcher experienced that for himself, he was warned of his mind’s possibilities–and how they could alter the pursuit of his dream–by Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin in the classroom.

“There’s this mountain we’ve gotta climb up,” Corbin would tell Keegan and his teammates in his four seasons at Vanderbilt. “You just focus on the next step of that mountain because if you take a look to your right or your left, down or up, you might slip and fall so you just keep taking small steps forward and then at some point you look up and you’ll be where you want to be.”

Keegan–who is hitting .276 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 19 games at Triple A, Durham–has taken Corbin’s advice in his day-to-day operation. There’s very few off days, an abundance of travel and a game six days a week.

The figurative mountain climb that Keegan is on could be intimidating if he looks up at it or what he has to do in order to find his way to Tampa Bay, but he’s taking Corbin’s advice and taking it one pitch and one at-bat at a time.

At times it’s easy for thoughts of what a future in the major leagues could look like for Keegan to creep in throughout a schedule that doesn’t include much but baseball, but he’s doing everything he can to focus on the task at hand.

“It’s always in the back of your head,” Keegan told Vandy on SI when referring to the potential of becoming a major leaguer. “But if you’re always thinking about that and chasing that, it’s hard to be where your feet are so I kind of just try to stay where my feet are at and focus on whatever I got to do today.”

Keegan’s approach to this point has quickly accelerated him from the Florida Complex League to Triple A. The former First-Team All-SEC player at Vanderbilt has yet to repeat a minor league level and has posted an OPS above .800 at every level he’s been at thus far.

The climb Keegan has been on has gone quicker for him than it has for others, but he realizes that it’s futile to think about things like that until receiving a major league call-up.

As Keegan sits in his hotel room after a team lift in Omaha prior to a mid-June series against the Omaha Storm Chasers and thinks about the players down the street participating in the College World Series–an event he participated in twice and won a National Championship in once–he stopped himself and his day-to-day mindset to take a second to reflect on how far he’s come since his last time in Nebraska.

“At certain points you look back and you take a breath like ‘wow, I’ve come a long way,’” Keegan said. “You also turn back around and you look forward and you say ‘I still have so far to go.’ It is nice to look back and to look forward, but for the most part I try to stay where my feet are.”

Since Keegan’s 2021 trip to Omaha, he’s been drafted twice, has built himself out physically and has learned how to become a pro.

He’s also more independent as he travels a few times a month, controls his own routine and does whatever he needs to do each day to get ready to play at 6:30 or 7:00 P.M. if his number is called. The majors aren’t here yet, but that’s okay by Keegan.

“This is what you dream about as a kid,” Keegan said. “You show up to the field every day, go through your routine, get ready to play, then you run out to the field and you’ve got stadiums full of people under the bright lights. You’re playing the game that you love. I’m super grateful to have this opportunity.”