Trending
WILLIAMSPORT -- Focusing on his own baseball the last few days hasn't been easy for Mark Vierling. His mind has been in San Francisco since his brother, Matt, was called up the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time Sunday.
Just 30 minutes before what was supposed to be first pitch Saturday night at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Vierling was on his phone scrolling through Twitter for any updates he could find on his brother. Then he saw a Tweet from the Phillies which said "Welcome to The Show, kid!" with a picture of his brother Matt.
All of a sudden, Mark's heart began to race. He searched his brother's name on Twitter and eventually found the video of him getting his first big league hit.
"I started freaking out," Mark said following the State College Spikes' win over the Williamsport Crosscutters on Sunday. "I found that video on Twitter and I watched it all day. (Sunday) morning, I was watching it non-stop."
Matt Vierling was drafted in the fifth round out of Notre Dame by the Phillies in 2018. He made his professional debut in Williamsport playing against the very same State College team his brother Mark plays for now. Matt Vierling went on to hit .420 with 21 hits in 12 games with the Crosscutters in 2018 before he was moved up to then low Class A Lakewood.
Since then, Vierling's path to Major League Baseball has been swift. After spending the 2019 season in high Class A Clearwater, Vierling start this season in AA Reading where he hit .345 in 24 games with the Fightin' Phils to earn a promotion to Class AAA Lehigh Valley.
Matt Vierling had been with the IronPigs for only three games before he was informed Saturday he'd been called up by the Phillies. The St. Louis native who played his college baseball at Notre Dame was the most likely person to eventually make it to the big leagues, according to his brother Mark. But nobody expected it was going to happen this quickly this year.
"Basically he was in Double-A last Sunday just hanging out there. We never would have expected that Saturday he would get his first big league hit and steal a base against Buster Posey," Mark said. "It's been unreal. It's been a huge whirlwind. It was so last minute and all of a sudden. It caught us all off guard."
Matt Vierling was called up to the Phillies when outfielder Matt Joyce was placed on the injured list Saturday. He became the 106th former Williamsport Crosscutter to play in the big leagues. He's the third player from the 2018 Cutters to play in the big leagues, joining Alec Bohm and Rafael Marchan.
Growing up, Mark always knew Matt would be the one to make it to the big leagues. He has always been the consummate baseball rat who was willing to put in the work to match his natural talents as a hitter.
"It always seemed like something he was destined for," Mark said. "You could tell Matt was just the perfect fit to be an MLB player. He had MLB talent. He's consistent. He marks off everything teams want."
Mark Vierling just finished his fourth season at the University of Missouri. He still has one more year of eligibility left after losing the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic. So he's playing in the MLB Draft League this summer with the State College Spikes to try and improve whatever draft stock he has.
He's followed Matt's path from Notre Dame through all his stops in Minor League Baseball. He's picked his brother's brain about what to expect all in an effort to better prepare himself should he get the opportunity to play pro ball.
"He went to Notre Dame and I went to Mizzou, and at school you're treated like royalty," Mark said. "The dining halls are really nice, the fields are great and you can do anything you want at any time baseball-wise. But minor league ball is different. You have to be locked in every second of every day. You can't go through the motions. It's a 24/7 job. He talked to me about how you're going to have your failures and you have to be able to stay consistent."
In 17 games with State College, Mark Vierling is hitting .273 with a home run and 11 RBIs. He's trying to go about his business, but he'd be lying if he said he isn't concerned with what his brother is doing with the Phillies.
Philadelphia returns to the East Coast starting a series with the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. Mark has already thought about trying to find a way to make the trip to see his brother play at Citizen's Bank Park. He's thought about what that moment will be like to see his brother in a big league uniform on a big league field, but he has no idea what he's going to say when that moment finally comes.
"That's still my brother. That's the guy I grew up with," Vierling said. "I'm going to look at him and not know what to say."