After a brief hiatus, our series about the Rockies Cultural Education & Development program returns (you can read the other installments here, here and here)! This time, I interviewed Steven Baumann, who teaches at the Arizona Complex League. I also observed his postgame class on Saturday, June 6th, where the players were working on post-game interview practice.
Here is that story.
Steven Baumann is the newest teacher in the Colorado Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program, having been hired
in March 2025. He has the unique job of working with the Arizona Complex League, which consists mostly of Latin American players who are coming to the United States for the first time until the MLB Draft in July. But Baumann has fit right in and ensures students are getting what they need out of the program.
“Weirdly enough, I feel like all of my teaching career has led to this,” Baumann said in May.
“I started teaching about 15 years ago in New York City, and even before that I taught abroad in China.I taught English, and in New York City, my students were predominantly from Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Baumann taught in the New York City Public Schools until 2016, when he went back to graduate school and pursued higher education until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During that time, he decided he wanted to return to the classroom and moved to Phoenix in 2022 to teach at Phoenix Country Day School – a private school in the Paradise Valley area.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “It gives me a lot of creativity and freedom as a teacher, and I’m allowed to offer a bunch of cool electives. I have really academically inclined students who are looking to go to some of the best colleges in the US, but I still kind of miss that energy. And so I’m always looking for fun opportunities.”
One of those fun opportunities came in the form of teaching English for the Rockies at the local Arizona Complex League.
“When I saw this job posted last year, I was honestly shocked because I’d never really seen anything like it,” Baumann recalled.
“I’d not been in the big sports business market, and I just read the post that Angel [Amparo] had written and was like, ‘Wow, actually everything fits. ‘I’ve worked with this population. I’ve taught English before. I’m a local in Phoenix. I have a lot of flexibility in terms of hours, especially during the summer . . . .’
“So I started getting really excited, and when I went through the interview process, I just got more and more excited until it culminated in the demo lesson,” he continued. “And in the demo lesson, I met a bunch of players, and I just thought right away that I felt like home in the classroom with these guys. I understood exactly what they were trying to get out of it, and kind of how they felt towards it. These are very mission-driven individuals – not too different from the students I teach at Phoenix Country Day School – but they have a different mission, and they’re also trying to adapt to this totally new world, which I felt strangely qualified to help them do.”
Practical lessons
While Paul Worley teaches virtually since he’s based in North Carolina and teaches Spokane Indians players, Baumann teaches a hybrid schedule. On Wednesdays, they do virtual classes where they are split into breakout rooms based on ability, and on Saturdays, they meet in-person as a culmination of the work they did on Wednesday.
I was able to observe one of the classes this past Saturday, where the players were working on post-game interview skits. There were about 27 of them, and they were split into groups of six. Each group was given a script of different scenarios to act out — a good game, a bad game, and a cancelled game — and they played the roles of reporter and player.
They had about five minutes to practice – as they’d worked on the scripts on Wednesday in the smaller groups – and then they went up to perform in front of their peers with the script behind them so everyone could read along. This allowed them to not only see what kinds of questions might come from reporters, but also practice different responses. It also helped them with tenses (namely simple present and simple past) as well as question words (“What happened during the game? Why was it cancelled? How do you feel about your performance?”).
Additionally, the energy was off the charts. It helped that they had beaten the ACL Diamondbacks 1-0 not even an hour before, but all of the players were very engaged and supportive of each other performing these skits. There were also a few who were brave enough to be interviewed before or after class – not necessarily for an article yet, but just to practice being interviewed by a real reporter.
All of this goes to show the trust and the rapport that Baumann has established with his cohort of players in such a short time.
“I knew right away, as I entered the classroom, that you have to build that trust and you have to show them that, ‘I’m here for you 100%. You guys give me direction and what you need.’ And I wanted to be very responsive to them, so I was trying to build that trust and build those relationships right away,” he said.
One of the biggest ways that Baumann has cultivated trust is by attending ACL games as much as he can and seeing his students in action.
“They really love having someone in the crowd there,” he said. “They’re very cognizant of the fact that American players playing in colleges are playing in front of these packed houses. I’m an alum of LSU, and thousands of people are going to those games, so these guys kind of have a chip on their shoulder a little bit because they’re playing when it’s 110 degrees out and there’s no one out there.
“So I would go and show up to the games, but I didn’t do it as much last time because my wife was pregnant. But now that we’ve had a child, I’m hoping to go to many more games this season,” he continued. “Seeing those players there – seeing them in the classroom and then seeing them on the field and them coming up to me and saying, ‘Hello. How are you doing today?’ and practicing their English while they’re in their game day environment – was such a highlight for me, and knowing that they’re taking these lessons outside of the classroom.”
And while Baumann is used to teaching school-aged children, he has had to be adaptable to the different stakes of teaching professional athletes.
“I pride myself on having good adaptability,” he said. “I thought it was one of my personal and professional strengths, and this job has tested me in ways that I didn’t expect because I’m in contact with the coaches, I’m in contact with Angel Amparo, I’m in contact with the other teachers and the players move around a lot – guys get cut, guys get moved up, guys get injured – and that significantly changes the feeling of every class.
“We had a wonderful class this Saturday (May 2nd),” he continued. “They beat the ACL Angels 4-0 in their home opener, and Ronnie Ugarte hit a home run. He was just beaming in class. But those situations change, when they hit slumps or a player’s not getting playing time. So these are things that, as teachers, we’re used to in the classroom. Kids have their ups and downs. But in the baseball world, I think they’re just a little bit more unpredictable and the gravity is higher.”
But like Worley, Baumann makes sure that his lessons have practical use to the players, even beyond baseball.
“One of my first practical exams last year was just meeting me at Starbucks and talking through, ‘What do you see on the menus? How would you order water?’ because even the concept of going into a private business and getting free water from Starbucks doesn’t always make sense,” he said.
“I’m trying to help them both by exposing them to those situations – getting them out of the classroom a little bit and taking them, whether it’s a simple trip to Starbucks or something bigger than that – and also adapting the curriculum so it has things like, ‘How do you interact with an Uber driver who just wants to talk your ear off?’ because these guys, especially in Arizona, have to be very conscious of how they act and how they present themselves, especially recently.”
Cultivating classroom culture
One of the things that Baumann also does differently than the other levels is cultivate an in-person classroom experience. Even though these players all move together as a cohort, they still have to work together and are competing with each other for jobs.
“They’re each coming from very different situations,” he said. “The group really has a nice diversity of experience, and just watching how they watch each other and how they kind of coach and teach each other. And so I really try to press the guys who have a little more know-how and who have a little bit more ability to get around into those baseball roles, and having those conversations of, ‘After baseball, do you want to be a leader? Because right now, these guys are looking to you for advice because you speak English a little bit better.’
“So that’s a message I try to hammer home over and over again, because ultimately, they’re with those guys and they’re with the coaches way more than me, so the more I can reaffirm that, ‘You’ve got a helper in class, too. You don’t always need to go to me and that’s not necessarily a competitor,’” he continued. “Because I think by default, though they are teammates, they are competing for the same positions so there are rivalries in there. But I’ve been trying to push on those leaders, definitely last year and this year again. Whether it’s Wilder Dalis (No. 24 PuRP) just showing up to every class right on time and ready to learn and then saying, ‘Oh, look. He’s in Fresno!’ And that kind of thing. There’s that solid core for each group.”
Working with administration
Just like in a K-12 classroom, Baumann still has to work with his fellow educators. But instead of it being the math teacher, the social studies teacher, the music teacher and the principal, he is working with other English teachers in other parts of the country and Major League Baseball coaches.
“We’re in frequent communication, just to see where the players are moving and what’s happening,” he said. “Every once in a while, a player has to go back to the Dominican Republic or Venezuela or whatnot, and I have to be in communication with them multiple times throughout the week. There’s not ever a time between a class where I’m not talking to Freddie Ocasio, the coach of the ACL team, and I’m talking to Angel every single day basically.”
And as far as the other teachers go, Baumann said they’ve “got a group chat going, and we have the shared files on Google Drive.
“My philosophy is to just be totally open to everything,” he continued “so as soon as I started creating content, as soon as I started creating stuff, I’m throwing it on the Google Drive. I’m sharing it with my co-teachers. Paul has this great interview activity, so he’s sharing that with me and we talk about adapting it for the younger group. And Yulonn [Harris] has the app she’s developing. So they were very open, and I’m very open, so every document I create, every slideshow I create, every activity I do, I throw it on the Google Drive and if it goes really well, I share it with them. They’ve really responded, and I think just that openness has really made me feel like I’m part of the team right away.”
And Baumann’s favorite lesson? It involves baseball cards.
“My favorite activity is one that’s near and dear to my heart because my dad was a baseball card collector and he’s cleaning out his garage and has been giving me these sets of, like, Topps 1969, Topps 1970 and Topps 1990. So he collected when he was a kid, and then he collected a little bit when I was a child. He’s been handing over all these card sets, and there are hundreds of cards,” he said.
“So what I do is I’ll bring those baseball cards to our class, because a lot of these players are a lot younger than I am so they don’t have the same baseball history as someone that grew up in the United States. They all know these cards exist – they’re signing cards and doing all that stuff for the modern stuff – but to look at how players presented themselves in the past and what kind of information was pertinent, and to get familiar with the teams and the language and the history of MLB,” he continued.
“So I’ll pass out the cards, and they’ll do an interview from that player’s perspective. Sometimes I’ll give them a deck of cards and they’ll have to build a lineup, and I’ll say, ‘Who did you choose for left field? Why is that guy better than someone else?’ And obviously they’re looking for the Latin players, and there’s not a lot. Even back as early as 1990, they’re like, ‘Teacher, why are all these guys white?’ So bringing in those historical artifacts of MLB has been a lot of fun, and that’s why I liked cards when I was young. You could just stare at them and get all the stats. How much does he weigh? Where is he from? It’s really good for practicing question words.”
Balancing two worlds and closing thoughts
Baumann has the unique opportunity because he lives where he teaches, which also presents the challenge of balancing both his day job and his side gig, especially when things first start up during extended spring training and overlap at the end of the spring semester.
“It’s been challenging, especially given that I now have a nine-month-old, but this is one of the things that I’ve really developed over the years of teaching: I really don’t bring work home from my other job, so I’m able to separate the worlds and be totally present when I’m there and maximize my time. So on Saturdays, when I’m in between classes, I’m building that next class so there’s not really one wasted moment,” he said.
“And then the other thing is I combine things whenever I have a chance,” he continued. “I was able to bring my parents and my son – at the time, he was only five months old – down to the field during spring training. And Julio Medina was there from the Dominican Republic with the guys who were coming to the US. So whenever two worlds meet, it’s really, really rewarding and I’m hoping in the future to do some crossovers with PCDS and meet some players that are playing baseball at the high school.”
But with the challenges come the rewards.
“I just have a tremendous amount of gratitude for this happening and for my coworkers,” Baumann said. “Angel really has taught me a lot about being a professional and communicating and surrounding players with people like this. It’s really wholesome for a pro sports organization to do, and I genuinely feel that they’re giving these guys the best shot – both professionally, that they can make it in the big leagues, but also with an empathy that I wouldn’t expect from a big sports organization to have. And I tell the players this in class: whatever happens on the baseball field, if you put 100% in these classes and in these relationships that you’re developing, you have a home for life with the Colorado Rockies.”
On the Farm
Arizona Complex League: ACL Rockies 7, ACL Diamondbacks 5
The ACL Dbacks got out to an early lead, but the ACL Rockies came on late to seal the victory. The Dbacks scored one run in each of the first four innings, but the Rockies scored two runs in the fourth and sixth, plus three in the eighth. The Dbacks scored once in the bottom of the eighth, but it wasn’t enough.
Alessander De La Cruz got things going with an RBI single in the fourth, and Jose De La Cruz singled to score Alessander. In the fourth, Kamuel Villar doubled, and Eriel Dihigo singled to tie the game at four apiece. Dihigo singled to score A. De La Cruz in the eighth, and Dariel Garcia singled to score Villar to run up the score 7-4.
Ismael Luciano was the only Rockies pitcher to not give up a run in his two innings (though Wilmis Paulino’s run was unearned). Eliezer Pena pitched three innings to start the game, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Odarlin Cruz then relieved him, allowing one run on two hits with a strikeout in two innings.
Feltner building argument for being Rockies’ top starter | MLB.com
In two starts back with the Colorado Rockies after recovering from right ulnar nerve inflammation, RHP Ryan Feltner has shined, tossing 12 innings and just allowing one run with two total walks and six total strikeouts. Feltner has always shown flashes of success, but has often been derailed by injuries himself. If he can remain healthy in 2026, he has the potential to stabilize a reeling rotation.
‘Super scary’: Freeman OK after taking 98.2 mph off the helmet from Misiorowski | MLB.com
A scary moment on Saturday night saw Tyler Freeman take a pitch square off his helmet. He walked off the field lucid, but it’s still a sight nobody wants to see. While he didn’t directly talk to the media after the game, Thomas Harding was able to talk to Warren Schaeffer and some teammates about what happened. Troy Johnston offered an unorthodox solution: “They were talking about amputating his head, but I think they advised against that. Other than that, he’s fine, seems in good spirits.”
Roldy Brito (No 11 PuRP) had a breakout year in 2025 and was named MVP of the Arizona Complex League. In 2026, he is playing with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies and lighting the world on fire, slashing .329/.369/.509 in 52 games. Brito has also gone 9-for-15 in stolen base attempts. Kyle Newman spoke with Brito and Rockies farm director Chris Forbes about his future in the organization and the new prospect archetype he might represent.
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