By Rob Rains
With so many new pitchers arriving in Jupiter, Fla., as spring training gets underway for the Cardinals, there will no doubt be a time when they will try to get to know one another.
When Riley O’Brien and Ryan Fernandez strike up a conversation, they likely will quickly learn they have something in common to talk about.
O’Brien, obtained from the Mariners, can tell Fernandez about how he thought about quitting playing baseball when he was in junior college. Fernandez, selected by the Cardinals from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft, can respond by telling O’Brien how he had the same thoughts when he was about to finish high school.
Thinking about where they were then, and how nearly a decade later both are now in a major-league spring training camp, probably will produce a laugh or two.
“No chance,” O’Brien said in a telephone interview about the odds of that happening after he almost stopped playing in 2015. “That’s why this whole experience has been cool. I’ve been grateful for every day and not taken anything for granted.”
Fernandez, who arrived in Jupiter last week, has the same attitude.
“I woke up this morning, walked out of my apartment, the weather felt great and I was like, ‘Dude, I’m going to play baseball for fun, for money,’” Fernandez said. “This is awesome.
“It’s not that I wouldn’t have believed it (as a high school senior) but for me in my head, it would have been far-fetched for sure.
“I am as grateful as I can be.”
Both O’Brien and Fernandez have come a long way since wondering if baseball could, or would, be a part of their future.
“You can’t figure it out in a mid-week scrimmage”
For O’Brien, who turned 29 on Tuesday, it was his coach at Everett Community College in Washington who urged him to keep playing. For Fernandez, 25, it was his parents, Rafael and May-Lin, who didn’t want him to stop as he was about to graduate from high school in 2016 in Tampa, Fla.
Neither has any idea what they would be doing now if they had followed through on the idea of not playing baseball back then.
“I always kind of had a passion for baseball; it was always something I was good at,” O’Brien said. “It never really felt like there was anything else I wanted to do. I always kind of felt like baseball was the only option.
“It probably should have gotten to that point where I was thinking about other stuff, but it was that thought that I was trying to push away because I didn’t want to accept that baseball could be running its course. I did give it some loose thought, and nothing really stood out as much as wanting to continue my baseball career.”
Levi Lacey was O’Brien’s coach at Everett.
“I remember some of those conversations,” said Lacey, now an area scout for the Texas Rangers. “I remember him kind of doubting his ability. I specifically remember a day at practice, in the middle of the week. Back then Riley’s command struggled and he got on the mound and didn’t get locked in. He was just really scattered but his stuff was really good.
“We had high expectations for him and I love him as a human, and I just went off. I yelled, ‘Riley, you are the best player on this field and the only one who has a chance to play in the big leagues out of everyone on this field. You can’t figure it out in a mid-week scrimmage?’ He was looking at me like a deer in the headlights.
“I kept going. ‘Riley, did you hear what I said?’ You are the only one here who has a chance to play in the big leagues. You’ve got to get locked in.’ It was a mid-week scrimmage and he was doubting himself.”
Lacey thought at the time that O’Brien, whose grandfather had played in the major leagues, was at a point where he might walk away from the game but that maybe his message at practice that day served as a wakeup call.
“He turned the corner mentally,” Lacey said. “He just kind of questioned if he was good enough. Honestly there was no doubt in my mind that I thought he was. He just hadn’t figured out how to do it yet. But I wasn’t going to give up on him.”
Lacey had played at the College of Idaho, an NAIA school in Caldwell, Idaho, and his coach was still there. A phone call led to the school deciding to give O’Brien a chance to pitch there the next year.
“I definitely always wanted to keep playing,” O’Brien said. “It was one of those things that I kind of looked at, and realistically there weren’t many opportunities, but in my head giving up or not playing baseball was not really an option.
“I was just kind of pushing that thought away and when the College of Idaho called it felt like my second chance and I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and I’m thankful I did.
“I told the coaches there I needed to re-start and do what I needed to do to get the ball over the plate and kind of go from there. They were very supportive of that and helped me out and it kind of took off from there.”
After a solid junior season, O’Brien got some interest from scouts during a pro day in the fall of his senior year. Then came the game that O’Brien believes changed his future.
“We were playing Lewis-Clark State, the best team in our conference, and I wasn’t supposed to start that game,” O’Brien said. “Before we left the hotel I was told I was starting. There were a lot of scouts there watching Lewis-Clark.
“I hit 95 and the highest velo I had before that had been 92. That’s where I met the Rays’ scout who ended up following me the rest of the season and then drafted me.”
The Rays used their eighth-round pick in the 2017 draft on O’Brien, sending him off on a professional odyssey that has taken him from the Rays system to the Reds and Mariners on his way to the Cardinals, a journey that has already included two games in the majors – a start for the Reds in 2021 and a relief appearance for the Mariners in 2022.
“I definitely want to get some more,” O’Brien said. “It doesn’t feel like I’m done yet.”
Lacey doesn’t think so either.
“He’s so much stronger now because he dealt with the adversity,” Lacey said. “He’s like, ‘Now if there is an obstacle in front of me I can get through that.’ He created that himself … He kept working. He knew he was going to get through it.
“I admire the young man. He makes me happy every time I see him. He’s the proof that even if someone else doesn’t believe in you, just keep grinding and give yourself a shot.”
O’Brien continues to be thankful for how Lacey motivated him and provided the springboard to his future.
“He was definitely hard on me, but that’s how he was with everyone,” O’Brien said. “He always made it clear I had potential and he always had my back and was willing to help me out.”
“My God, I’m such a bad player”
Like O’Brien, Fernandez had moments when he wondered if playing baseball was going to be part of his future after graduating from high school.
“There was a point coming out of high school,” Fernandez said. “I hadn’t gotten any offers from any colleges. My high school coach talked to the coach at Hillsborough Community College and they reached out and wanted me to go to a tryout.
“I was sitting at home and I was like, ‘My God, I’m such a bad player. Community college is where the bad kids go …I’m never going to get anywhere with this.’ I was thinking about quitting but my parents, being my parents, they didn’t let me do that … I probably had it (the thought of quitting) in the back of my head for a week but once I had that talk with my parents I got back to baseball.
“They love me and they knew I could do better than that, so I gave it a shot. I went to the tryout, did really well and the school gave me a full ride.”
Fernandez had a good freshman season, realizing that the community college level still was stacked with good players, many of whom he thought could have played in Division I except they were looking for a chance to get drafted sooner.
“After that year was when I really started taking it seriously,” Fernandez said. “I started working out in the gym, started to throw harder and perform better. I got attention, and then got drafted.”
The Red Sox selected Fernandez in the 23rd round in the 2018 draft, and he spent the next five seasons, missing the Covid-canceled 2020 season, quietly advancing through the Red Sox system, reaching Triple A in 2023.
“I was never the guy getting all the attention,” Fernandez said. “I was always just a guy who was under the radar, getting by, good enough to get to the next level but never sticking out. I think having my whole life and career of not sticking out helped me stay humble and keep working hard.
“I feel like when I was younger if everyone was telling me ‘I’m the best’ or whatever maybe I would have got complacent and not really worked hard because if you feel like you’re the best, you don’t have to get any better.”
Fernandez, like O’Brien, believes the opportunity with the Cardinals is coming at a good time in his career.
“Every year is a learning curve,” he said. “You always learn what you need to do for the next season. I’m just going to go out there and do what I do best.”
Competing for a job in the majors
O’Brien and Fernandez are joining what promises to be the most hotly contested competition in the Cardinals’ camp this spring, trying to win a spot in the bullpen. They were two of the five right-handed relievers acquired from outside the organization this winter with three holdovers returning from last season also in the camp. Including the four lefthanders who are back after pitching in relief for the team last year, there will be at least 12 pitchers vying for one of eight spots.
Fernandez, who is in his first big-league spring camp, is in a slightly different position as a Rule 5 draft selection. He will either have to be on the active roster or injured list the entire season or be offered back to the Red Sox.
He doesn’t want that status to affect his approach to the competition.
“At the end of the day I’m just going to compete to try to stay up there, whether it’s because of the Rule 5 draft or not,” Fernandez said. “My situation really isn’t going to change; I’m still going to be trying to be the best pitcher I can possibly be.”
Fernandez began the 2023 season at Double A Portland, where he posted a 1.77 ERA before his promotion to Triple A Worcester. Combined between the two levels he struck out 67 batters in 54 innings.
O’Brien spent all of last season in Triple A with the Mariners, where he earned 15 saves and posted a 2.29 ERA while striking out 86 batters in 55 innings.
“My goal is to go out there and pitch the best that I can and hope everything works out,” O’Brien said. “I think last year I kind of made some adjustments halfway through the season that kind of helped me be more consistent with my mechanics. I took that right into the offseason and kept pounding away at it. I feel like I’m in a really good spot.”
Fernandez thinks he is too. If he needs any extra motivation once the camp officially opens and the games begin, he knows where it is going to come from.
His father, Rafael, died in 2021.
“It was definitely a blessing to have my parents behind me,” Fernandez said of his decision to keep playing. “My dad was probably the biggest driver. So now, it’s like I’ve got to keep that going, just to make him proud.”
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
O’Brien photos by AP courtesy of KSDK Sports; Fernandez photos courtesy of his family
