Happy camper
Hard-throwing Brewers prospect Drew Rasmussen will be at home no matter where he winds up.
Drew Rasmussen handled his three promotions in the Milwaukee Brewers' minor-league system last season quite well, thank you very much.
But all the packing up and moving that came along with the bumps up from Class A Wisconsin, advanced Class A Carolina and Class AA Biloxi was, to put it bluntly, a pain in the backside.
So this past offseason, during a conversation with his parents, Rasmussen
and his fiancee, Stevie, were turned onto a novel yet crafty way to avoid becoming baseball nomads in 2020.
Instead of potentially bouncing from rental property to rental property again, why not try a camper trailer and bring their home with them to each potential stop instead?
“It was, ‘Move, move, move,’” Rasmussen said, recapping his first professional season that began with extended spring training in Arizona and then an early April start at Miller Park with Wisconsin.
“We were just kind of talking to my parents and I told them that it was a little overwhelming and they made a joke because they have a trailer that they go camping in for weekends and stuff. They said, ‘If it would make it easier, you could just borrow our trailer for the year,’ and we just kind of laughed it off.
“Then we started just kind of following this other couple that was doing it and my fiancée said, ‘Hey, if we find something that fits our needs that might not be a bad route.’ So we started looking and found something that was pretty comfortable.”
Indeed, other minor-leaguers in similar situations have lived in vans, campers and RVs. So the couple took the plunge and purchased a 27-foot camper trailer that they pull with Rasmussen’s truck.
“It’s pretty nice,” Rasmussen said. “I easily fit in the shower and the bathroom’s pretty good size. We’ve got a king-sized bed. With the slide-out it’s a pretty good size. It’s perfect for two people. Three people or more would be tight.
“Basically, it makes moving easier. Everything’s packed up, everything’s all organized. You can just hook up and go.”
Had there been no coronavirus pandemic and the season gone off as planned, chances are the trailer would already be in San Antonio, home of the Brewers’ Class AAA affiliate Missions with Rasmussen just a step away from making his major-league debut.
Instead, it was in Minneapolis on Monday night, only a five-hour drive from Milwaukee.
Rasmussen was informed Thursday by the Brewers he’d be among the group of 60 players brought back to Wisconsin to begin training for the two-month season. So he and Stevie hit the road from Portland, Oregon, and began heading east.
First stop was Spokane, Washington, to visit Rasmussen’s parents. They got as far as Billings, Montana, the next day and Bismarck, North Dakota, on Saturday.
It was on the drive to Minneapolis that Rasmussen received a call from Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan informing him he’d made the Brewers’ 45man roster for Spring Training 2.0 at Miller Park.
“If I’ve learned anything in the game of baseball, it’s that nothing should catch you off-guard ever, because surprises happen all the time,” said Rasmussen. “Obviously I’m honored and blessed to get the opportunity to play on the squad of 45, but I didn’t really see it.
“I figured there’s a chance, they’ll get everyone in for some competition, that kind of thing, and then I’ll be sent off to Appleton. I understand there’s a business side to this and there’s guys who are being paid a lot more than I am this year that the Brewers would like to see in the big leagues.
“However, with the shortened season you’ve got to win every game and if they see value in me then I’ve got a real chance. It’s quite an honor, man. It’s awesome.”
The Brewers have been high on the fireballing right-hander since taking him in the sixth round out of Oregon State in 2018. Two Tommy John reconstructions later, he’s coming off that strong 2019 season and a brief but impressive performance in major-league camp this spring that had him on the radar screen of potential in-season callups.
Rasmussen threw several 99 mph fastballs in his Cactus League debut and has hit triple digits on the radar gun, giving
the Brewers another potential highoctane bullpen arm to consider along with Josh Hader, Corey Knebel and Ray Black.
“There’s a lot of business that happens, and luckily I got selected by an organization that prioritizes winning over some organizations that decide to not pay their rosters and that kind of stuff,” said Rasmussen, who turns 25 on July 27 and is rated by the Journal Sentinel as the organization’s ninth-rated prospect.
“The Brewers say, ‘Look, you give us the best chance to win, you’re going to play.’ So, out of spring training I had no idea what was going to happen, but I do think at some point this year, so long as I took care of my business and I executed I might have been given the opportunity.
“I’m excited to get things going again and just see where this year can still take us.”
After COVID-19 ground baseball to a halt in March, Rasmussen traveled back to the Pacific Northwest and eventually picked up his workouts again at the gym of a family friend in Portland. He also worked out with some of his former college teammates.
“I’m curious to see what everyone else was able to accomplish over the last eight weeks or so,” Rasmussen said. “But I’m just excited to get back on the mound and just compete and get the opportunity to play again. That’s what I’m really looking forward to right now.”
He’s also well aware of how fortunate he is to even be able to compete at all this season.
Thousands of minor-leaguers won’t be as fortunate, with their seasons ended by the pandemic before they even began.
“Unfortunately for a lot of guys, a wasted year is a great way to put it,” he said. “It sucks and it’s hard to watch. It’s hard to see people we care about being in limbo and not knowing exactly what’s going to happen. It was a real concern of mine. Then I got the phone call and I started looking at those around me.
“Unfortunately some people aren’t going to get to play and who’ve got great potential and a great chance in this game.”
The Brewers’ 45-man group opens workouts Saturday. If he doesn’t make the opening-day roster, Rasmussen still has the potential to pitch out of their bullpen at some point this season.
Until that point he’d train in Appleton with the rest of the team’s “taxi squad.”
The bright side is whether it’s Milwaukee or the Fox Valley, Rasmussen no longer has to worry about his lodging. Not with his new home hitched to the back of his truck.
“We researched and there are a couple RV parks in the greater Milwaukee area that we’ll stay in,” Rasmussen said. “Hopefully for as long as possible. And if I get sent up to Appleton at some point, we’ll find an RV park there.”