Reimold's retirement routine includes instruction for stepson

As Jack Porter continues to gain the notice of baseball evaluators as a high school junior in Tennessee, he can keep seeking advice and instruction from two prominent men in his life.

Both of them former professional players.

One of them quite familiar to Orioles fans.

His father, Scott, was a pitcher and a fifth-round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 1999. His stepfather, Nolan Reimold, was an outfielder and second-round pick of the Orioles in 2005 who played eight years in the majors.

Lots of credit to go around for a kid who was chosen to the Under Armour All-American Preseason tournament prior to baseball's shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, is ranked fourth by Perfect Game among infielders in his state and showed impressive on-base skills with the Nashville Knights 17U Platinum summer travel team.

"I've been around him since he was 4 years old," said Reimold, whose retirement has transported him to Franklin, Tenn., with wife Jenny and their seven children, though stepdaughter Grace is now enrolled at the University of Alabama. "He's always been a kid who loves baseball. His dad played baseball as well. And then there's me, so he's always been around baseball and he's always said he wants to be a baseball player. He's one of those baseball rats that comes home and puts on the baseball channel.

"He is a good player. I remember watching when he was like in eighth grade. I videoed his swing and I was like, 'Wow, this is really, really good.' Technically sound, leg kick, pulls his hands in, does everything right. I was in shock.

"He's developing. He is not an early bloomer physically, so that's the good thing about it. Neither was I. I was terrible when I was a sophomore in high school, hitting-wise. I didn't even think I was going to be a hitter. I thought I was going to pitch because I was not very good at hitting, and all of a sudden you develop. So he has been a really good baseball player and he's starting to develop more physically.

"He worked with the same trainer (at Chadwick's Fitness & Performance Training) that I went to here and he's already shaved a few tenths of a second off his 60 time. He's really worked at getting faster and developing his tools more. I think no doubt he's a Division I player. It's just, let's see how his tools develop, which he's really working on, and he's going to be a pretty good player."

If the health restrictions keep loosening, and no one can be certain about 2021, scouts will be able to watch Jack - an outfielder and second baseman listed at 6-foot-2 and 172 pounds - at Father Ryan High School.

In the meantime, Reimold is a convenient and enthusiastic resource.

"In baseball, you're constantly working on things, he said. "He'll come to me with questions. What do you think about this? What do you think about that? What if I do this? And I'd give him my opinion and tell him what to do.

"He's always had good at-bats, takes his walks, that sort of thing. Now we're trying to get a little more power in his swing. I want to see him get a little more pop. He makes good contact, but power is always the last to come, so that's what we're really going to focus on and get him a little more power numbers this coming year."

Scott Porter pitched at Jacksonville University and lasted three years in the minors before injuring his shoulder. He averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and had 12 saves in 45 games, the majority of his appearances with Single-A Dunedin. Porter and Jenny were married after he retired from baseball and he's now a commercial real estate developer in Nashville.

Jack would watch Reimold play at Camden Yards, often invited onto the field for batting practice, and also seek out some of his other favorites.

Now it's Reimold's turn to sit in the stands, where he's joined by his family and Porter.

"I've been around a long time, so we're close," Reimold said. "He knows he can come and ask me anything. And his dad works with him a lot, as well. We talk about Jack and what he needs to do now and that kind of stuff. Obviously, I was a hitter, so I help him out as much as I can."

"I met Nolan when I was only 4, so he's been in my life for as long as I can remember," Jack said. "When I was little, I remember going to see him in minor league games and then would go to Baltimore to watch him play. I liked Matt Wieters and Manny Machado and used to watch their plays over and over on my iPad after games. I would wait after games in the family area so I could see Manny, Chris Davis and Adam Jones. One spring training, Brady Anderson helped me in the cages and gave me some advice on my swing.

"In elementary school, Nolan would come to my class in his uniform to talk to my class about baseball. When I was 12, I really understood what a big deal this was when my Little League team went to Cooperstown for the Little League World Series that we ended up winning. We got to see the Orioles play the Red Sox at Fenway the day before. Manny and Buck Showalter came over before the game to give my team a pep talk. I think that's when I saw the difference between Nolan in a stepdad role and Nolan as a ballplayer.

"My dad always helped me and coached all of my teams when I was younger. Nolan always helped me with my swing and would give me tips on how to improve it. Both of them have helped my teammates with pitching or hitting over the years at practices. Now that I'm in high school and mainly a second baseman/outfielder, they both work together to help me become a better ballplayer."

Not your typical arrangement among fathers.

"I know they'll sit together at games and look at my videos of my ABs," Jack said. "If one is at a game and the other isn't, they will send videos to each other. I'll do baseball specific workouts with both of them at each home and they would both take me to speed and agility training before I could drive.

"I know that I'm very lucky to have my dad and stepdad really work together to help me. I have both of their baseball cards hanging up in my room."

Other cards and photos honor Jenny's grandfather, Tommy Irwin, who played at the University of North Carolina and was the Indians' shortstop and leadoff hitter for the final three games of the 1938 season - including both ends of a doubleheader. Bob Feller struck out an major league-record 18 batters in Game 1.

Irwin and pitcher Denny Galehouse were traded to the Red Sox that winter for outfielder Ben Chapman.

"I've grown up in baseball and it's all I've really ever wanted to do," Jack said. "I plan on majoring in finance like my dad in college, but I'm hopeful that one day I'll get to experience playing at the professional level, as well."

Reimold, whose last major league appearance came in the 2016 wild card came in Toronto, celebrated his 37th birthday on Oct. 12 by doing goat yoga for the first time.

Wasn't his idea, but it made for some great photos and stories.

"They do an experience instead of like a present," Reimold said. "Every Father's Day, birthday, whatever, it seems like Jenny plans something crazy and it just keeps getting crazier and crazier as we go on. But I don't know if you can top goat yoga. I said, 'Now you're maxed out.'

"It kind of feels good when they jump on your back. It's like a massage."

The most exhausting workouts come at home by helping to care for young daughters Emma, Mary Clare, Maggie and Charlotte, and son Asher.

"I'm busy all the time," he said.

Reimold jokes that Grace's move to Alabama was a huge loss because she did so much around the house, including getting her sisters ready and cleaning up after dinner.

"Now it's all on me," he said, laughing.