The best advice Dylan Carlson has received

Even though he is just 23 years old, Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson is already something of a baseball lifer. His father, Jeff, is the legendary baseball coach at Elk Grove High School in California -- a program that has produced nearly a dozen Major League Baseball players -- and Dylan grew up around that greatness from the time he was strong enough to swing a bat.

His background has a lot to do with why he has always been a baseball prodigy, and it is a big reason why he has already developed into one of the Cardinals' most dynamic players. When Gold Glover Harrison Bader went down with a plantar fasciitis injury more than a month ago, Carlson stepped in and played nearly flawless baseball in center field.

Carlson’s versatility also extends beyond his spectacular defense. Not only is he a switch-hitter, but he’s one of the few MLB players who have hit in all nine spots of the lineup this season. He has the speed to be in the leadoff spot, the disciplined eye to bat No. 2, the pop to hit in the middle of the order and the reputation to hit down in the order and protect sluggers Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Tyler O’Neill.

MLB.com recently sat down with Carlson for a Q&A to give some insight into what makes him tick -- on and off the baseball field.

MLB: What is a hidden talent that you have that maybe no one knows about? Tyler O’Neill can play the piano, Tommy Edman can solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes and Corey Dickerson loves to draw in his spare time. What’s your trick?

DC: Unfortunately, nothing too special for me. The only thing I guess I can do is that I’ve always been able to hit from the right and left sides. I was a natural right-handed hitter, but I grew up my whole life going to baseball practices and to pass the time I would hit off the tee and play Wiffle Ball. When I saw the older kids hitting left-handed, I put a ball on a tee and started learning to hit left-handed when I was 6 or 7 years old. I kept doing it ever since and here we are. I write left-handed and do a lot of things lefty, so I’m not sure how I was ever a natural right-handed hitter.

MLB: When you got to the Major Leagues, who was the one established player who you were awestruck by and really wanted to meet?

DC: Coming up through this organization, you get to hang out with guys like Yadi [Molina] and [Adam Wainwright]. I grew up watching Albert [Pujols], Nolan and [Goldschmidt] and then I became teammates with them, and it was so cool. Outside this clubhouse, I’d say facing [Justin] Verlander was a moment that I’ll always remember.

MLB: Every kid who loves baseball has the dream of reaching MLB when they are younger. When did that dream seem like a reality for you?

DC: When you get drafted, you say to yourself, ‘All right, now I’ve got a real shot at this, and it will be up to me to work for it.’ Then, when you start moving up the levels, you think, ‘Wow, I’ve really got a shot to get there.’ When I got drafted, that’s when it really hit me that I’m going to have an opportunity to make the dream a reality.

MLB: What’s the best piece of advice that a teammate has ever given you or who has had the biggest impact on you as a player?

DC: I’d say, it wasn’t a teammate, but [Cardinals former player/instructor] Bernard Gilkey was a mentor and a coach for me while coming up through the Minor Leagues. He’s an awesome guy. He told me, ‘No one is ever going to be harder on yourself than you and no one loves you more than you, so take it easy on yourself. Always keep showing up and giving it your all.'

MLB: You barrel up a ball and get a single, who is the funniest or most talkative opposing first baseman in the league?

DC: It kind of depends on the day. I’d say that Joey Votto always has some interesting comments or questions that start the conversation. He’ll ask you about something you were thinking during the at-bat. It’s stuff that you wouldn’t generally talk about with players from the other team, but it’s cool.

MLB: How many of the details do you remember from the night you hit your first MLB home run?

DC: It was off [Nate] Jones, a reliever for the Reds at the time. He gave me a slider down and away and I hit it to right-center. The weird part is there was nobody in the stands [because of COVID protocols].