Yankees' Adam Ottavino explains how playing winter ball -- and being a relief pitcher -- prepared him for a future as an MLB manager

Adam Ottavino had been looking to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic for many years before finally doing so after last season.

The opportunity came at a perfect time: Not only did Ottavino, 39, want to extend his distinguished pitching career, but he saw a chance to deepen his cultural understanding in a way that would one day make him a better MLB manager.

Ottavino, a native New Yorker who has gotten big outs for both the Yankees and Mets, is back in the Bronx this week because Yanks closer Devin Williams is on paternity leave. Beyond that nothing is guaranteed, though the team’s scouts do think he has a bit more to give.

Whenever his playing career ends, Ottavino believes that he is well-positioned to transition to managing, as rare as that is for a pitcher.

“Manager is the position where you can really make an impact on the margins by connecting with the humans in the room,” Ottavino says. “I also think that from a moves standpoint -- I know it’s unorthodox for a pitcher to manage, but if you really look at in-game moves, I would say 80 percent of it is managing the bullpen and the pitching staff.

“Having had so many great managers, that has been a big separator. And a lot of times guys don’t really learn that until they’re deeper into their careers. It’s a blind spot for a lot of guys because they didn’t pitch. Even though it seems unorthodox, I feel from that perspective I’d have a little edge on another guy who was new to the position because I have thought about pitching moves for my entire career. And I’ve done every role, and I understand how the pieces fit together. It’s just one aspect of the job, but I do think it’s one where a relief pitcher could have a leg up.”

One area that Ottavino wanted to shore up while in the Dominican Republic last winter was firsthand experience with Latin American baseball culture. The good managers -- think Aaron Boone, Alex Cora and Carlos Mendoza -- relate well to players from all regions and countries.

“I knew that going out there would definitely help me with the cultural aspect, relating to guys from Dominican and other Latin countries,” Ottavino said. “Just to get down there and really get a sense of what their culture is all about, what their life is all about.”

While there, Ottavino encountered a passion for baseball that reinvigorated his own.

“You could feel the presence of baseball everywhere you went,” he says. “I took a couple strolls outside Stadium in La Romana with my camera, and, every patch of dirt you could find, there were baseball games going on, just kids everywhere playing baseball. That is very inspiring.

“I grew up here in New York, and knew a lot of Dominican guys growing up. I had a sense for the culture. But being there on the ground at Ground Zero for Dominican culture, in their cities and their towns, you get to see the sense of community.”

Ottavino also found that the experience of playing in a foreign country deepened his empathy for teammates doing so in the United States.

“All of a sudden I'm in a place where I'm not speaking the language and I'm looking for other Americans to connect with,’” he says.

“You know what it feels like to be an outsider. You feel like, ‘Okay, I have to find a way to blend myself into this, into this world, and assimilate into it, be able to be within it and feel comfortable’ And I'm sure that it's a lot harder coming to America from the Dominican than it was for me, but at the same time you get a sense that it's definitely a culture shock, and it's a big adjustment.

“I've always been sympathetic to the journey because it's very real. But it's just even more clear when you're there just how different it is.”

By turning that sympathy to empathy last winter, Ottavino hopes that he enhanced his ability to understand a wider swath of a big league clubhouse -- and ultimately to lead one.

“I want to make an impact,” he says.