Former Blue Valley High School star recalls journey from KC to Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland Guardians outfielder Will Brennan was the star Tuesday night in his first major-league game at Kauffman Stadium, but it’s a ballpark he knows well.
As a standout at Blue Valley High School and Kansas State, Brennan had played at The K before Tuesday’s game against the Royals, and it’s the place where he first met his current manager, Terry Francona.
Brennan did not make a good first impression.
Growing up in Stilwell, Kansas, Brennan was a Boston Red Sox fan because it was his stepfather’s team. Boston was at Kauffman Stadium when Francona was still managing the Red Sox more than a decade ago. Brennan, then a grade-school kid, was near the visitors’ dugout one night when he spotted Francona and asked for an autograph.
“Go get (Dustin) Pedroia,” Brennan told Francona.
The response: “Beat it, kid.”
Francona let out a deep laugh while recounting the story and added, “I probably offended him a little bit.”
There are no lingering hard feelings. Brennan, who made his big-league debut last September, has locked down the right-field job with the Guardians. He started there Tuesday, picking up three hits — including a two-run double in the ninth inning as Cleveland beat the Royals 2-1.
Before the game, Brennan’s mind drifted back to those high school days, when he was a Kansas City Star All-Metro selection and wondered what it would be like to roam the outfield at The K as a major-leaguer.
“Did I think it was gonna be like this? Absolutely not,” Brennan said. “A kid can dream, but it took a ton of hard work to get to where I’m at and kind of just being in the right place at the right time.”
A career turn in KC
Brennan took an unusual path to the majors thanks to COVID-19.
Cleveland selected him in the eighth round of the 2019 MLB Draft. After rookie ball that year, Brennan was promoted to Class A Mahoning Valley, where he batted just .219. The pandemic canceled the 2020 season for many minor-leaguers, so he headed back to Kansas City.
Brennan began working out at St. Pius X High School, along with big-league pitchers Garrett Cleavinger and Ryne Stanek, and minor-leaguers Austin Hansen and Cole Duensing.
“There’s a lot of minor-league guys and big-league guys that are in the Kansas City area,” Brennan said. “So we all just got together and would do live at-bats every week. And, honestly, I think that would probably be the biggest game-changer in my career, just doing that.”
While Brennan wasn’t with the Guardians at the time, the team provided him with guidance that proved invaluable.
“I kind of had a bad taste in my mouth at the start of pro ball,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what was gonna happen and luckily these guys saw a lot of potential and value in me and they took me under their wing.
“The front office in our developmental staff grabbed me and put me through a lot and then I came out the other side in ’21 and have had a lot of success after all the adjustments that they provided for me that I had to make.”
When baseball returned in full in 2021, Brennan made a quick ascent up the Guardians’ minor-league ranks. He split time at Single-A and Double-A that season, batting .286. In 2022, Brennan hit .311 in 36 games at Double-A, earning a promotion to Triple-A, where he batted .316 with 28 doubles in 93 games.
The Guardians called up Brennan last September and he had a .357 batting average in 11 games while helping Cleveland wrap up the AL Central division title.
“That’s a pretty big compliment for a kid when you call him up in the middle of September and play him,” Francona said. “But we thought his bat would help us — and it did.”
Brennan said it was a thrill to play in the postseason, where the Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Yankees in a Divisional Series.
But, man, did time fly.
“I would say last year was kind of like a blink. It just went by really fast,” Brennan said. “I was only up for three weeks and then I got to play in the playoffs. And so that was just the fastest way that I’ve had to grow up my entire life. Granted, I was 24 years old, but I had to act and play like I was 35.
“So having to go through that definitely helped going into this year. Kind of made the transition a little bit easier once I made the team. And then from there, you just kind of play ball and whatever happens, happens.”
Good things happened for Brennan Tuesday: His three-hit evening raised his average to .276.
“I don’t think you could have written it up any better,” Brennan said after the game. “Just got put again in the right situation, got a pitch to hit. I definitely and goosebumps a little chill before the game.”
Brennan said he was given the ball that he hit for the eventual game-winning RBIs as a keepsake.
“This kind of felt like a debut within itself,” said Brennan, who heard friends and family chanting his “Chill Will” nickname. “It’s definitely top two, top three (moments) for me. It’s very special.”
And, after once irritating Francona, his manager now has good things to say about Brennan.
“He is an easy kid to root for,” Francona said. “He’s a good kid, he plays hard. He’s trying to learn, which is all you can ask. And he’s competing like crazy. Kind of went through about a month there where he was getting a little beat up, fought back and now he’s doing OK.”
