A Long-Awaited and Rewarding Moment Brady Feigl Will Never Forget

PITTSBURGH — The outcome for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Chicago Cubs was an ugly one.

The Pirates were routed 18-8 thanks to Chicago’s 21 hits, nine extra-base hits and eight stolen bases.

The mood during the postgame media availability was glum, but there was one reason for Pirates’ players and coaches to smile.

Brady Feigl made his major-league debut out of the bullpen, which is a feel-good story in and of itself. It wasn’t an ordinary debut, either. Feigl’s road to stepping on a big-league mound for the first time was a long one filled with challenges.

Feigl was signed by the Braves as an undrafted free agent out of Mount St. Mary’s in 2013. He rose through the system quickly, working his way to Triple-A two years later before injuring his elbow in his debut, resulting in Tommy John surgery.

His last season with the Braves’ organization came in 2016. That offseason, Feigl was traded to the Texas Rangers.

In total, Feigl spent seven seasons in the minor leagues. He didn’t pitch in 2020 because of the global pandemic or in 2021 because of injuries. After pitching in the independent league from 2022-23, Feigl signed as a minor-league free agent with the Pirates in the offseason.

The left-hander had a solid year with Triple-A Indianapolis, and the Pirates selected Feigl’s contract on Sunday. On Monday night, he made his long-awaited debut at 33 years old.

“It’s pretty hard, but I’d say rewarding,” Feigl said on trying to put what the moment was like into words. “Like I said, all the blood, sweat and tears I’ve put into this game finally paid off. And just proud of myself and appreciate the support from my family and friends and coaches and everyone along the way.”

Feigl became the seventh-oldest player in Pirates’ history to make his major-league debut, and the oldest since Drew Maggi, who had a similar story last year.

Manager Derek Shelton called for Feigl with two runners on and two outs in the seventh inning to face Cody Bellinger. With his family in attendance, Feigl fired in a first-pitch strike. On the next pitch, he induced a groundball to first baseman Rowdy Tellez to end the inning.

“It felt really good to get the first pitch over for a strike,” said Feigl. “And then kind of get a curveball down to get (Bellinger) to roll over it.”

Feigl trotted back out for the eight and allowed a leadoff homer to Isaac Paredes. With a short bullpen, Feigl again went back out for the ninth before the wheels fell off. In total, he was charged with six runs in 1.2 innings.

Despite not getting the results he would have wanted, Feigl accomplished a lifelong dream after a difficult path. Nothing could mask the pure joy he exuded following the game.

“It’s been such a grind,” he explained. “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.”

While Feigl’s story is unique to him, his teammates also appreciate his opportunity given what it’s taken for him to reach this point.

“Hats off to him,” said Mitch Keller, who was the Pirates’ starting pitcher on Monday. “It’s an unbelievable journey he’s been on and we can all look to that as inspiration. Just to him and everything he’s gone through, the battle and the fight.”

Whatever happens to Feigl in the future, he’ll forever be able to call himself a big-leaguer. That alone is a victory, and in improbable one at that.