Feigl family filled with emotion as 33-year-old realizes MLB dream

PITTSBURGH -- Brady Feigl never had a Plan B. Baseball was always going to work out. But two years ago, he and his wife, Courtney, almost had to seriously consider what a future without baseball would be.

Feigl was pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks and sustained what Courtney called “a very low blow” with a shoulder injury that they worried might require surgery. He didn’t need it, and was back in the Atlantic League the next year, working towards that Plan A.

“Everything after that, every success in last year’s independent ball, last year’s Dominican League, everything has just been icing on the cake,” Courtney told MLB.com.

On Monday night at PNC Park, Plan A was finally realized. With Courtney and his parents, Ray and Mary Lou, watching on, the 33-year-old left-hander made his Major League debut after over a decade of grinding in the Minors and independent ball. The Pirates would lose to the Cubs, 18-8, but Feigl won in his own way.

“All the blood, sweat and tears I've put into this game finally paid off,” Feigl said postgame, still wearing his Major League jersey. “Just proud of myself and appreciate the support from my family and friends, and coaches, and everyone along the way."

Feigl’s journey to the Pirates included stops with three Major League organizations, four Atlantic League teams, a four-year gap between games pitched in affiliated baseball and a big showing in the Dominican Winter League this offseason.

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It was after that showing in the Dominican and Feigl’s pro day that he and the Pirates connected and came together on a Minor League deal with no invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Feigl just needed that chance. He became one of Triple-A Indianapolis’ top lefty relievers this season, striking out 62 hitters over 51 2/3 frames, and after the Pirates lost Hunter Stratton (ruptured left patella tendon) on Saturday, they gave Feigl his first shot in the Majors.

With the game getting out of hand early, Feigl started to suspect that his number might be called. His parents made the trek from Longs, S.C., when they got the call that he was headed to the Majors, and they were pretty easy to spot at the ballpark. They were the ones who ordered the first two custom No. 52 Feigl jerseys.

As Domingo Germán struggled in the seventh and Feigl started getting loose, the gravity of the situation started to set in.

“I was sweating and was watching my heart rate go up, and he was still in the bullpen,” Mary Lou said. “God, when he gets out there, I’m going to have a heart attack!”

Running in from the bullpen, Feigl was feeling pretty similar.

“Body [was] kind of shaking,” Feigl said. “I was just kind of telling myself, 'Don't airmail it or spike it.' [Catcher Yasmani] Grandal's had a pretty good year, don't want to beat him up.”

Feigl cleaned up the seventh inning without issue and worked around a solo shot by Isaac Paredes in the eighth to minimize the damage. The Pirates pushed him another frame to try to save the bullpen, and that’s where things went sideways for Feigl, but the game had long been decided before then.

“Obviously, things didn't go as well as I wanted them to, but no one can take away all the hard work that I've put into this," Feigl said.

That’s undeniable. Feigl was known to say in Indianapolis that baseball is the best job he’ll ever have. On Monday, he did the best job at the best level.

Feigl can’t say for sure if he doubted at any point of that decade-long journey if he thought this day would come, but that’s not where his focus was.

"I know in the back of my head, I wasn't going to give up,” Feigl said. “As long as I still had the ability to do it, I'm not going to give up."

“There was never a Plan B,” Courtney said. “This was always Plan A.”