Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes saw the value of a father's sacrifice throughout his childhood while his father worked double shifts as a security guard at the Elizabeth, N.J., board of education.
Tomas Reyes Sr., rarely took a day off while raising his three boys in the inner-city. Their surroundings were modest. Their dreams, hard work and expectations were not. Devotion was paramount, whether they were struggling to make ends meet or taking a fun trip to Shea Stadium to watch Dominican slugger Sammy Sosa face the Mets.
Through his hard work, Tomas Reyes Sr. nurtured his youngest son's baseball dreams by making sure he always had the necessary equipment. Alex Reyes is now the committed father putting in the necessary shifts to make sure he can provide for his young daughter.
As he celebrated his second Father's Day as a parent, Alex Reyes finds inspiration from his dad and daughter, two fighters who give him strength as he rehabs from the season-ending surgery he had on his right lat earlier this month.
To be clear, he suffered a blow, but he has been focused on a much bigger challenge since his daughter began fighting cancer in late 2016.
"It just reminds me that there are things that are far more important than the love I have for baseball," he said. "That's just the love for family. Having a kid is a blessing in this world. God blessed us to be able to have kids. Watching her grow is something that I'll probably be able to do much longer than I'll be able to play baseball.
"Just understanding that she fought for her life and she still is, I'm just trying to give her the best life she could possibly have. If that's me fighting for my career, then that's what I got to do."
As Reyes rehabs from his second major surgery in as many years, he is buoyed by his upbringing and the example his father set. There was a time growing up when he didn't quite understand why his father wasn't around on most weeknights.
"It was tough at the beginning, but at the end of the day we all knew what it was and we understood what he had to do to put the food on the table," Reyes said. "Growing up in a house like that I just feel like you kind of understand the need and more of the work that you need to do in an everyday life in order to live.
"I've been blessed for my father to be able to do that and put the food on the table. For me it's been just worrying about baseball. That's thanks to him and thanks to my mother (Dignora). They've worked extremely hard to accomplish that."
Alex Reyes was only four the first time he told his parents that he wanted to play in the majors. He put all his focus on baseball when he left New Jersey to live in his parents' native Dominican Republic in December 2011 in hopes of securing a signing bonus with a major-league club.
While there, he met the love of his life, Karina Guerrero, and secured a $950,000 signing bonus at age 18 from the Cards.
Reyes and Guerrero welcomed their first child Aleyka on July 17, 2016. Less than three weeks later, Reyes made his major-league debut with the Cardinals, on Aug. 9. He was 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA over 12 games during his first cameo in the majors, giving the Cardinals plenty of optimism heading into spring training last year.
Reyes and Guerrero were already spending most of their time at the hospital with Aleyka, who was diagnosed with cancer when she was five months old.
Aleyka spent more than four months in the hospital. She was still in the hospital when Reyes was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament on his right elbow, forcing him to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery before he threw a pitch in spring training 2017.
Reyes leaned on his parents, siblings and veteran teammates such as Adam Wainwright and Zach Duke to help overcome the disappointment of losing a season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
He leaned on Guerrero and, more importantly, stood tall and strong for her as they worried about their baby in the hospital. "Not many people at 21 years of age are dealing with tasting the big leagues, having season-ending surgery, Tommy John, and then dealing with the personal issues that (Reyes) was dealing with," Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. "To me that's an enormous load on a young man.
"To watch him where he is today, as disappointing as it is that he was most recently injured, he's still light years from where he once was. He's much more equipped to handle this than he was a couple years ago."
That maturity has helped Reyes appreciate the little things in life. He enjoys seeing how much Aleyka loves to watch Peppa Pig. He's amazed at how smart she is.
He's impressed that Aleyka doesn't need help getting into her iPad to click on YouTube to look up her favorite videos. Her first words were mama and papa, the Spanish words for mother and father.
He hasn't heard her say "pitcher" yet, but it wouldn't surprise him if that word was already in her vocabulary. He's working hard to be ready to pitch in front of her and his entire family next season in the majors.
He isn't rehabbing for himself.
"It's mostly for her," he said. "Just knowing I'll be able to give her a better life throughout the outcome of my career, that's something I look at 100 percent."
Tomas Reyes's son has learned the importance of being a good father.
