Visalia Rawhide third baseman A.J. Vukovich is in his first pro season after being drafted in the fourth round in 2020 (119 overall). Vukovich comes from East Troy, WI and just turned 20 years old. Batting in the middle of the Rawhide order, Vukovich is leading the team in hits (61) and doubles (15) and is second in HRs (9). I had a chance to talk to A.J. this past weekend and saw right away that he is a positive-energy guy who is driven to work hard to succeed. We discussed the move to central California and the adjustments to full-season baseball among other things:
YOU’VE BEEN HERE A FEW MONTHS NOW, DO YOU LIKE VISALIA?
Yeah, I love it.
IS THE COMMUNITY SIMILAR TO WHERE YOU COME FROM AT ALL?
You want to know what, yeah, it is. During Spring Training when they said I was coming here I wasn’t exactly sure what Visalia would be like just because it is in California. I’d been to Los Angeles a few times but nothing north of there so I wasn’t sure what it would be like. But honestly it does remind me, sort of, where I’m from. It has that community feel to it and you can tell the community likes the Rawhide and really appreciates its baseball team.
