Frosty Microbrew: McInerney, Feliciano Work to Overcome Long Odds

When the 2018 Midwest League season opened in early April, the rosters featured top prospects and high draft picks from organizations across baseball in an array of names that minor league followers had already come to know. Two weeks into the season, however, the league's home run leader was a player many of them were likely less familiar with.
The 2017 MLB draft was three days and 40 rounds long and Timber Rattlers first baseman Pat McInerney spent much of that time sitting by his phone waiting for a call that never came. He had batted .309 with a .416 on-base percentage and .593 slugging in his senior season for the University of Illinois, but suddenly he was forced to consider the possibility that his baseball career might be over.
"I was like, 'I guess I've got to find a job, back to the real world,'" McInerney said. "I didn't sleep much that night because I fully expected, I had a decent enough year and from what scouts were saying, that I should get picked up. It didn't happen on draft day, so I didn't get much sleep that night. You're weighing everything. You think you're doing one thing and the next thing you know you're trying to find a job."

The next morning McInerney received a call from Brewers area scout Harvey Kuenn Jr. with an invitation to join the organization. He ended up playing in 50 games for the Brewers' affiliate in the Arizona Summer League, finishing tied for the league lead in home runs with nine and fourth in the league in walks with 34, paving the way to a .378 on-base percentage.
"I've been lucky with the situation I've stepped into. Playing every day in the Arizona League really helped. A lot of guys don't get that opportunity, being undrafted, they're in a platoon or other things happen. I got really lucky that I could play every day and kind of showcase what I'm about."
Brewers amateur scouting director Tod Johnson refers to the rush to sign undrafted free agents after the draft as "day four" of the draft process.
"All of our area scouts know that we'll be probably signing at least some of these guys. It typically skews towards pitchers, but in any given year it might end up being position guys. It's the guys that they have an idea might make it through the draft that they liked, or they know and have a good feel for," Johnson said.
In McInerney's case, Kuenn had identified a player with power, the ability to play first base and a work ethic and personality that would make him a hard worker and a good teammate.
"With Pat, we were looking for a guy who could play first base and provide some thump in the lineup at rookie ball and the next level," Johnson said. "So he fit that need. And really, what gets those guys signed is what they've demonstrated from a skills perspective as well as, honestly, just the way they go about it. The way they play and the fact that they've impressed one of our scouts based on how they go about their business. Scouts are constantly talking to coaches to sort of assess what kind of player they're going to be, what kind of teammate they're going to be, how hard are they going to work, all of those type of things."
Thirty major league organizations selected 1215 players in the 2017 draft but left McInerney on the board. Now that his professional career is underway, he said he is "absolutely" motivated by playing against teams and organizations that opted not to pick him.
"A big thing throughout my athletic career has been just finding things to motivate you," McInerney said. "It helped me in school, it helped me coming here too, it motivates you throughout the offseason. When you're playing other teams, just knowing that they kind of skipped over you, it's easy motivation. You don't have to look too hard for it."
Within the Brewers organization, players who start their careers as undrafted free agents have an easy role model to look up to in Colorado Springs utilityman Nate Orf. Orf was passed over in the 2013 draft but signed with the Brewers and has steadily worked his way up the ladder, making his way to AAA for the first time in 2016 and earning his first invitation to major league spring training this year. Johnson highlighted Orf as a player with the mix of skills and personality traits to succeed despite having gone undrafted.
"We want them to be skilled and that sort of stuff, but they're certainly going to stand out from players who probably have a similar skill package, based on the fact that their coaches and our scouts know that they play the game well and they're going to work hard and be good teammates," Johnson said.
The first full professional season can be a grind for any player, but McInerney said his experience playing for the Northwoods League's Kenosha Kingfish during college helped him understand what he needed to be prepared for this year.
"It really helped prepare for the lifestyle. I can't imagine if I went through the college baseball experience and didn't do a summer league like that, I think it'd be very tough to adjust to this lifestyle," McInerney said. "It really does prepare you for playing every day if you're not used to playing every day. In college you play three games, maybe four games a week. In the Northwoods League you play 72 games in 76 days or something ridiculous like that. So getting your body ready to play every day and having the mentality that you're going to play every day, the Northwoods really helps in that regard."
The Midwest League also represents an opportunity for McInerney to play close to home. The Timber Rattlers' recent extended stay in Peoria gave him an opportunity to go visit family in Chicago and for family members and friends to come and see him play.
"It's nice being down here, maybe a little longer than we expected but it's better than not playing at all," McInerney said.
One of the Timber Rattlers' biggest offensive performances of the season to date came from another one-time undrafted free agent: Outfielder Jay Feliciano. Feliciano, a native of Puerto Rico, went undrafted out of Southeastern Iowa Community College in 2015.
"I came here to the United States to play in college, and part of that means to get drafted," Feliciano said. "And when I didn't get drafted, it was hard. For me and my family and everything I had done, it was for something that did not happen."
Having grown up in the Caribbean, Feliciano had been noticed by the Brewers' international scouting department and identified as a possible candidate for a professional contract. He started his pro career with the Dominican Summer League Brewers and has been working his way up the ladder for three years.
Feliciano was in the lineup for the Timber Rattlers for their home opener on April 7 and two days later he had one of his biggest offensive days as a professional, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, driving in two runs and getting on base five times in a 10-4 win over Clinton.
Like McInerney, Feliciano said he is motivated to prove himself to the teams that did not give him an opportunity. Playing in the Midwest League will also give him his first chance to play professional baseball in front of his college coaches.
"I'm looking forward to Burlington, because my college is in Burlington," Feliciano said. "So when we play against the Bees my head coach and my hitting coach will be there. And Cedar Rapids, too."
Despite starting their professional careers with a setback, both McInerney and Feliciano are still chasing their dream of reaching the majors one day.
"When you look at baseball and you see guys in the big leagues that were undrafted or late round picks, and then you see guys that were first round picks. Baseball is a very hard sport to scout, I believe, just because it is such a mental sport. It's tough to come to a game and scout a mentality, if that makes sense. You can scout tools all you want, but since it is such a mental game, other guys excel and other guys don't excel," McInerney said. "If you do well at every level you're going to make it to the big leagues one day. So that's kind of what I'm telling myself."