Former Cutter Vierling happy to be back at Bowman with Tigers
Trending
After a strong college career at Notre Dame, Matt Vierling saw that success pay off, getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies.
The St. Louis native would spend a few seasons developing in the minor leagues before debuting with the team in 2021, beginning that journey in Williamsport with the Crosscutters. There, he'd have an incredible stint with the team, logging a batting average of.420 and OPS of 1.033 through 12 games and quickly getting promoted to the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws.
Now, six years later as a member of the Detroit Tigers, he's gotten the chance to relive that first step of his professional career, taking part in the seventh rendition of the MLB Little League Classic.
"I'm just really happy to be here," expressed Vierling prior to the game. "When I saw we were playing in this game, I knew going back (to Bowman) would be kind of cool."
In looking back on his time with the team, he remembers the experience fondly.
From recording his first professional hit against the State College Spikes to spending time with his Cutter teammates and managers, being back at Journey Ballpark brought back memories. He even got a locker very close to where his Cutter one was.
"Obviously, there have been some little updates here and there. But for most part nothing has changed around here, so it's kind of crazy," said Vierling on the complex.
"It was my first true pro baseball experience. Just doing all this for my experience, I'll always remember it. I'll never forget when they put the lineup up and I saw my name in there for the first time."
Even with how brief his time in Billtown was, the leftfielder learned a lot, mentioning former Crosscutter manager Pat Borders and hitting coach Christian Marrero - now the assistant hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates - when discussing those valuable building blocks.
Those building blocks helped build him into the player he is today, a one-year starter with the Phillies and now deep into his second season starting for the Tigers. Through the past three years, he's hung around a .250 batting average and is currently having his best season as a slugger, entering the Classic with a .437 slugging percentage.
"I learned a lot about myself in pro baseball that summer. It all started here," said Vierling. "The coaches there really helped me a lot. They taught me about how to go about my business and how to have my certain routines."
In being a part of the first-half squad, he never got to experience the Little League World Series until now, another aspect of this trip that made him excited heading into it.
The journey to Williamsport was one he always dreamed about as a kid. And though that never ended up happening, he's happy for the kids that are getting to experience it now.
"It's cool," said Vierling on getting to spend time with the kids. "It's just been kind of cool being around them and sharing the experience. You can kind of put yourselves back in their shoes."
In terms of advice, he just told them to have fun and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience.
"At times, I still wish I was in their shoes and just playing for the love of the game. I mean, I still am, butthere's more to it than that now," expressed Vierling.
"Although this is serious for them - obviously, you have a chance to win the Little League World Series, you still want to just have fun. You're 11 to 12 years old. You're getting there. It'll get serious. But just have fun right now."