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“We’d sign for a Snickers bar”: Inside Andrew Werner’s journey to the majors

Bradley pitching coach Andrew Werner. Photo courtesy of Bradley Athletics

The University of Indianapolis, home to just over 5,000 students, spreads out on a campus of around 50 acres with its sports teams competing at the NCAA Division II level. 

Despite not being a large school academically or athletically,  the university would see one of its alumni, a pitcher for the Greyhounds baseball team with a degree in criminal justice, make it to where every ballplayer hopes to make it one day: the Major Leagues.

“When we’ve asked him about it, he’s definitely shared his story and his journey to the big leagues,” Bradley senior pitcher Nick King said. “It’s a pretty amazing story, it’s really an inspiration to all of us.”

King was referring to Andrew Werner, the current pitching coach of the Braves. 

Despite failed attempts to be recruited by Bradley, the Washington, Illinois, native Werner started his college baseball career at Illinois Central College. After two years at ICC, he decided to transfer to the University of Indianapolis to continue his career.

With the Greyhounds, Werner went 12-7 with 4.07 ERA and totaled 156 punchouts during his time there but after his college career ended, Werner began to think about what his next destination was. 

“I probably should have hung [the cleats] up,” Werner said. “I just felt like I could keep going, so I kept playing.”

After going undrafted in the MLB Draft, Werner found his way to independent ball by joining the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League in 2009. There, he continued his baseball career, while his girlfriend — who ended up being his future wife — continued to work to help with payments.

“[She] probably would have loved for us to be making a bit more money,” Werner said. “There were a lot of things that went into it, but she was very supportive.”

In his second year in the independent minor leagues, where he split time with the Otters and the Windy City Thunderbolts, Werner seemed to have a case of the “right-place, right-time” happen to him.

“I was starting a game, and the guy I was pitching against had just been released from Double-A,” Werner said. “Long story short, he wasn’t very good, [and] I had one of the better nights of my life out there.”

After the game, he got a call from a scout with the San Diego Padres who was there to watch his opponent. After being impressed with Werner’s performance, he offered Werner to come out to Arizona after the season for a private workout he was hosting.

This two-day workout, which included around 60-70 other players, would become the stage for Werner to display his stuff. After being selected as one of three to be signed into the Padres system, Werner was sent to spring training, his first chance with a major league franchise.

“We always joked in Indy that we’d sign for a Snickers bar,” Werner said. “You never know who’s watching.”

Climbing through the Padres system

After getting assigned to Fort Wayne in 2011, he quickly advanced through the Class-A Tincaps, moving on to the Class-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm.

“The big thing for me was knowing that I wasn’t a guy who signed for a whole lot of money,” Werner said. “A scout told me ‘stay out of the training room, and you better be effective.’ I kind of just took that to heart.”

The left-hander started his second year in the system by getting placed in Double-A with the San Antonio Missions. After a short stint there, he was called up yet again to the Triple-A Tucson Padres, and after four starts, Werner was called up to San Diego to make his debut with the Padres in 2012.

Having never been to Petco Park before, Werner was more than ready for his start with the Padres, citing how he “slept like a baby the night before.”

Werner proved to be more than ready, getting his first strikeout in his debut, but getting ready for the game was the part he struggled with the most. 

“I was going through my pregame routine and I’m ready to get on the bump and get going,” Werner said. “I’m hanging out and a Pittsburgh pitching coach, their catcher and starting pitcher for that day come walking over and they’re kind of just hanging out. I can tell I’m getting some looks and finally their pitching coach says ‘Hey man, whatcha doing?’ and I’m like ‘You know just getting ready to go.’ He responds with ‘Big league debut today?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah’, and he goes ‘Good luck, hopefully not too much luck though.’ Then there is an awkward 30 seconds and he’s like ‘Hey man, you know this isn’t your bullpen, you actually warmup in left-center.’ I was getting ready to start my first big league game, and I didn’t even know where the bullpen was.”

Indeed, a little more instruction on the bullpen location may have been needed for Werner, but he still fondly remembers his time at the big-league level, starting eight games and going 2-3 in those games with a 5.58 ERA and 35 strikeouts.

From Player To Coach

After his time with the Padres, Werner was eventually traded to Oakland, pitching for two seasons in the minors for the Athletics, before eventually turning his attention to coaching.

Werner had always known that he wanted to coach, but he never knew where it would take him. His ultimate goal was to coach for the Braves, but he needed to take the necessary steps to get there.

He got a couple opportunities, helping out at ICC and USC-Aiken, before landing in Georgia, at Division II, Young Harris College. After leading the Mountain Lions to the programs first ever D-II Tournament, Werner was offered a spot as the pitching coach at Bradley in 2019.

Andrew Werner when he was with the San Diego Padres. Photo from Andrew Werner/Twitter

Braves players describe him as “ambitious,” “knowledgeable” and a “pitcher’s coach,” but what Werner tries to really push is the mentality it takes to pitch at this level.

“Something he has done really well with us is mindset,” King said. “When it comes down to it, pitching is a really mental thing and that’s something he has a really good grasp on.”

King has been under Werner’s tutelage for three years now, and he’s come to bond with the former Major Leaguer in a relationship that King says has only helped the right-hander improve.

“He’s a really interesting guy, like one of those guys you can sit down and talk baseball with for hours and not even realize it,” King said. “He’s got so many stories of stuff from his baseball years that it benefits us all to hear about.”

Werner is grateful for his opportunity to pitch at just about every level of baseball and he still has his first-strikeout and first-hit baseball at his home — proudly displayed of course. 

Werner’s experience of being a player and switching to coaching at his dream destination is all too perfect to be real. Yet, he’s still at Bradley, with a wealth of major league knowledge and a team who looks to him for any, and all advice.

 And he definitely got more than a Snickers bar for it.

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