Rochester Hills — It’s important to know that Koltyn Watters doesn’t really go by his given name. He’s instead known as “Flip.”
And it’s worth knowing his name because the Rochester Adams sophomore is one of the top 2028 baseball prospects in the country. But he’s far from the first person among his siblings to make a name for themselves.
Watters is the third of three brothers and perhaps the most promising of the trio. He’s the No. 8 ranked high school prospect for the 2028 draft class, according to Baseball America. But the sophomore still has work to do. And following the trail his brothers blazed for him is part of how Watters can make good on the athletic promise he’s shown.
“I’ve always known that he’s gonna take off at some point, it was just whether it was going to be his junior year or his freshman year,” Bino Watters, his older brother, said. “And happy it ended up being earlier because he got more publicity around his name. But I knew he was gonna take off at some point.”
Much like their younger brother, the elder Watters brothers don’t go by their given names: Brenson and Ryland. They instead go by Bino and Rino, respectively.
Bino stemmed from his parents, Tammie and Jeremy Watters, often finding themselves chiding the rambunctious child, and “B, no!” quickly morphed into Bino. Rino followed naturally, and he’s come to embody that moniker, signed to play linebacker at Central Michigan this fall after playing a final season of high school baseball with his younger brother.
As for the provenance of “Flip,” Tammie and Jeremy differ. Tammie says it stems from their youngest having a mercurial mood as a child, often having a tantrum when she’d be at the store with him. Jeremy contends it’s because their youngest would flip and roll around on the carpet or in his crib as an infant.
While that debate might never be settled in the Watters household, it’s certainly a settled matter that the nickname stuck.
“And that stuck, which is funny,” Tammie said. “There was a time when he first started playing, when he was 7 or 8 years old. But by the end of the season, I mentioned Koltyn to one of the moms, and she’s like, ‘I didn’t know you had a fourth child.’ And I was like, ‘No, that’s Flip.’”
And all three boys kept their parents busy.
Tammie, who played softball at Michigan State, recalled various games in the yard being a consistent activity when her sons were little. Anything where they could get outside and move around. They naturally took to Wiffle ball, among the many offerings.
And quickly backyard games gave way to organized youth baseball, where Watters showed some of the first signs of his athletic prowess.
At around 6 years old, he lobbied parents and coaches to let him play on the team with one of his older brothers in U9. By most accounts, he held his own.
And the brothers certainly didn’t lack for squabbling — and perhaps still don’t.
“Once there’s three of ’em together, there’s a pecking order,” Jeremy said.
As the trio aged into middle and high school, their careers started to diverge as they played different levels.
Bino led the way as the oldest, playing at Rochester Adams and getting MLB draft attention in 2024 before honoring his college commitment and signing with Notre Dame, where he’s gone on to excel. A sophomore this season, he’s batting .365 in 44 games, second-best on the Irish and one of the 12 best marks in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“You’ll be hard pressed to find somebody that works harder than Bino. Like, he was that kid,” Jeremy said.
Rino came next, playing with his older brother in high school briefly and now his younger brother. Admittedly not the same level of baseball prospect as his siblings, Rino’s main love is football, anyways. All three of the brothers played it, too.
“I played with him I think from like age 5 to 8 and then I didn’t play with him since and then finally got to play with him in high school ball again,” Flip Watters said. “That was a pretty good feeling.”
It’s thus a high bar for Watters to clear in terms of athletic accomplishment, though he’s certainly capable.
Watching the lefty play in person, it’s easy to see why scouts covet him. He’s 6-foot-2 and a strong 190 pounds. He can run well on the bases and in the outfield and his hitting is where he really excels. Watters has strong bat-to-ball skills and good pop with the frame to keep getting stronger as he keeps growing.
In a recent game against rival Rochester Stoney Creek, a mercy-rule victory, Watters went 2-for-3 with three runs, an RBI, a walk and three stolen bases.
Where the youngest sibling can come along the most, though, is how he carries himself and finding a more mature and professional mental headspace around a game he has a chance to play professionally — no small task for a 16-year-old.
He recognizes this, and Rino noted he’s seen the changes start to come from his brother who can sometimes let ego take the wheel.
Perhaps the best sign is how Watters responded to being named a top 2028 prospect. It’s certainly a badge of honor and a moment of pride, but he also views it not as much as an accomplishment but an acknowledgment that he’s on the right path.
“I mean, it’s not fully there yet,” Watters said. “So I just gotta continue to work and do my thing, and eventually be at the top of that list, not number eight.”
And he’s building the proper habits to stay on the radar of scouts, following the model of his brothers.
“He saw it with Bino and he saw it with Rino that like on Friday and Saturday nights, if they were out till one o’clock in the morning, it was because they were up at the facility training,” Jeremy said. “So like last Saturday, he and I, we were up at the facility training at 10:30 at night. And he is just completely locked in to like, ‘I wanna be better.’ And ‘This isn’t good enough,’ and ‘I strive to be better. I want to get stronger, I wanna get faster.’ And like I said, he’s got a fire under his ass for getting stronger, getting faster and really kind of dialing in his game this year.”
Moving forward, for all the brother squabbles and dustups past and to come, it’ll be Bino and Rino who are among the first people Watters can lean on.
Bino’s been in a similar situation as a high school draft prospect and can share what he’s learned. Rino is sharing the same dugout these days, and he and his younger brother get to help each other navigate whatever’s happening in their lives. They’re certainly appreciative of getting what is likely a final season of playing organized sports together.
“You only get so many moments like this and for me it’s probably one in a million getting to play with both the brothers and seeing them be so great at what they’re doing,” Rino said. “It’s bittersweet, you know, last year with him. But you gotta go on to bigger and better things.”
In many ways, Bino and Rino are catalysts for their younger brother to someday exceed them.
They might never admit that the last part happened, though.
“I think last year was the first year I’ve ever heard Bino say like, ‘Yeah, he’s, he’s better than me, than I was at this age,’” Jeremy said. “And Bino’s damn good. So it was, it was kinda — he would never say that to Flip, but he would say it like, ‘You know, at this age, like, yeah, he’s way better than I was.’”
And brotherly rivalries or not, what Bino, Rino and Flip are all ultimately doing — Tammie and Jeremy, too — is adding to the name they all share.
“But it’s like the last name, I still wanna be following on this path, just gotta continue making a name for myself,” Watters said.
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rochester Adams star Koltyn ‘Flip’ Watters on brothers’ path, but blazing own trail
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
