KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bubba Starling stepped out of the batting cage into the tunnel right beneath the home dugout. It was 5:05 p.m. Friday at Kauffman Stadium, where Starling grew up watching professional baseball. His eyes were somewhat bloodshot. He had not slept. He could not eat. It was OK. When you finally stand in a place you’ve dreamed of standing for as long as your 26-year-old memory recalls, you will deal with the side effects.



His family had not yet arrived, so Starling stood in the tunnel alone. He leaned his bat, a blond wooden Mariucci that on the barrel reads “Handcrafted For Bubba Starling,” against his right leg. He then peered up past the dugout toward center field and mustered a mere word.



“Man.”



Starling is a simple man. “He loves hunting, fishing, family and baseball,” said the owner of Building Champions Academy, Jeremy Jones, whom Starling has worked with in past offseasons. Simple men often...