After 40 Rounds of the MLB Draft, no team called out the name Alex Phillips. Alex had just completed his senior season with Baylor University with a team that had won the Big 12 Championship, yet he wasn’t drafted. Alex decided that it was time to hang up the spikes and move on with life, until his parents encouraged him to sign with a team.
On July 3, the Evansville Otters signed Alex Phillips to a contract to come pitch for them. He was put in the bullpen and pitched mostly middle relief until August, when Otters Manager Andy McCauley made him the teams closer. We interviewed Alex on August 15 and he told us about his baseball journey including the above story about his parents.
On Monday August 20, a Scout from the Minnesota Twins came to Bosse Field to check out some of the talent on the team. He had a radar gun out, checking the speed of the pitchers, took notes and left the game. It was a game where Alex came in and earned a save striking out the side in the 9th, spotting his 90 MPH plus fastball as well as throwing a slider at 2 different speeds! As fans, we hoped the scout was impressed but we didn’t think a player would be signed this late in the season.
On Friday August 24, we attended the Evansville Otters vs. River City Rascals game. The Otters had a 5-0 lead in the 9th Inning and Tyler Beardsley was on the mound pitching his best game of the year. After a series of walks, hits, and several different pitchers, the 5 run lead was gone, replaced by an 3 run deficit! We kept looking over to the bullpen and we didn’t see Alex get up. We thought because he pitched 2 innings the night before (striking out 6 hitters) that Andy was resting him. As we sat back in our seats, Alex walked over and sat down with us. He wasn’t dressed for the game because the Twins scout who saw him on Monday, signed him to a contract on Thursday night. Alex was scheduled to have a physical and then report to the High A Fort Myers Miracles! “I’m telling my close friends, family and you guys at this point.” We took a picture with him and promised we wouldn’t release it until he was signed.
In Alex time with the Evansville Otters, he tossed 22 innings, struck out 41 and walked only 3, posted 6 saves and had a sparkling 1.23 ERA!
Alex signed with the Twins and pitched in 2 games getting a win in his first game with Fort Wayne, and struck out 3 hitters. He finished this season with a team that won the Florida State League Championship!
Pretty awesome for a guy who almost gave up his dream, until his parents said to go play summer ball in the Frontier League.
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