Born in Boston and selected by the Mets in the eighth round of the 2021 draft, RHP Mike Vasil would be lying if he said he didn’t see a little bit of Tom Bradywho he described as his “hero,” in himself.
Brady, who has had a Hall of Fame career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and has the most championship rings of any other player in NFL history with seven, was also selected in the late rounds of his draft class – the sixth round to be exact. He’s regarded by many as the greatest player of all time in the history of the NFL.
“I can’t deny there’s a little bit of that in there,” Vasil said about comparing himself to Brady. “Tom Brady is one of my heroes in terms of sports… he’s just always been my guy that I look to like this is who I wanna be in terms of a champion, a winner, a competitor.”
If Vasil turns out to be anything like Brady for the Mets, the Amazins’ and their fans will be absolutely thrilled. But that’s way down the road. For now, Vasil is pitching at the Futures Game alongside the best and brightest stars of the future, which for an eighth-round draft pick is an accomplishment on its own.
However, coming out of high school, Vasil was a highly-touted prospect and likely would’ve been selected in the early rounds if he hadn’t pulled himself out of the draft to fulfill his commitment to play at the University of Virginia.
Vasil had his share of success at Virginia, but inconsistency in both velocity and performance caused his stock to drop, which is why he fell to the eighth round where the Mets scooped him up.
And although it’s rewarding for Vasil that he did, ultimately, make it to the Futures Game and is once again a highly-touted prospect, he wouldn’t want his journey to go any other way.
“I definitely enjoy the fact that I’m able to get here,” Vasil said about playing at the Futures Game. “I could’ve been a first-round pick and now I’m at the Futures Game, it’s kind of following the path some people would say of what a high draft pick would do, but at the same time I think what I learned from that moment of ‘okay, you might have fallen, or you [went] in the round you didn’t think you were going to but in terms of now, I think that stuff is gonna stick with me more and I’m gonna learn more from all my failures and how I perceive failure.
“To me, failure is awesome. You fail, but that’s only the result of how I can get better and that’s really how I view it.”
He added: “For me, I’m just an eighth-round pick, here at the Futures Game, just moving my way through the system. That’s the way I think about myself. I don’t really think that I had some past life where I was some super high pick. I am who I am and I kind of identify with the eighth-round pick in the 2021 draft class and I’m just working hard to, not necessarily prove it to others, but prove to myself that I know how good I can be and ultimately trying to get to Citi Field and pitch in the big leagues.”
The 23-year-old pitched well at Double-A this season, pitching to a 3.71 ERA (0.84 WHIP) in 10 starts before getting the promotion to Triple-A. It hasn’t been the smoothest transition for the right-hander, but he’s not too worried about it and describes his season so far as a success.
“In terms of things I’ve wanted to do personally, it’s been a great season,” Vasil said. “Little bit of a learning curve right now in Triple-A, but it’s all really normal stuff. Just getting used to better hitters, guys who are back-and-forth guys, major league caliber players obviously and just learning to use your pitches to the fullest potential and making the most of it.”
Just like Brady, Vasil loves to win. Even watching the Mets rattle off six wins in a row as they continue to fight to get back in the playoff hunt gets Vasil excited.
“I get excited about that because I want the Mets to win like anyone who’s affiliated with the Mets wants them to win,” he said. “One of the things about me is whether it’s six innings, four runs and that’s what the job calls for, or it calls for seven innings and a shutout, as a starting pitcher you got to do your job.”
As far as how good Vasil can be and what Mets fans can expect out of him, perhaps the next Brady is a bit premature. However, he certainly doesn’t lack the confidence or the self-assuredness of just how good he can become.
After all, draft selection doesn’t mean a whole lot, right?
“Personally, I think I can be pretty good, but I think it really is how much work I put in will be the output of my results and really just being confident every day. I got some pretty good confidence I can be a pretty good pitcher,” Vasil said.