Felix eyes next phase of baseball career

PHOENIX — Steven Felix was going to give things a month to shake out.

He said that he was over the disappointment of not hearing his phone ring during the three-day Major League Baseball draft in June. Of seeing players of comparable or less ability being chosen while he was snubbed.

The month just about was running out as the former Rutherford High School and Troy University standout was preparing for the College Home Run Derby held Wednesday at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. That’s when one of the Trojans assistant coaches, Mark Smartt, contacted him.

Smartt had been called, Felix said, by Joe Mason, a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers. Felix contacted Mason, and by Monday was on a plane headed for the Brewers spring training site. Following a physical and signing a free-agent contract, he is among 30-plus players participating in rookie ball.

And dusting off his catching skills.

“It was a little disappointing after the season I had,” Felix said Thursday of not getting drafted. “I kept my head up and was looking for a free-agent deal.

“I knew I was capable of doing more than they can,” he said of some of the players drafted on the second and third day of the draft, “but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Felix hit .311 his senior season at Troy with 16 home runs, fifth in the Sun Belt Conference. His 69 runs scored were second in the conference and his .472 on-base percentage was fourth.

That was as a left fielder, where he played exclusively last season after splitting duties his first three years catching and in the outfield. Felix caught throughout his prep career at Rutherford.

“They needed catchers out here so I went back to catching,” Felix said. He didn’t hit the field until Wednesday, following the signing of a contract that provided some money up front. From now on he’ll get paid every two weeks.

“Right now I have the same shot as everybody else,” Felix said. “It doesn’t make a difference what round they were drafted in.”

Felix said the routine is four days on, one day off with games in the evenings. He said he is one of three catchers in camp, two of them fresh from high school. The other players came mostly out of junior college or four-year schools.

“I don’t second-guess myself or my coaches (at Troy) for putting me in the outfield,” Felix said. “I know what I’m capable of doing and want to see how far I can get. I’m working on receiving and blocking, getting the rust off.

“As long as I play good, you move up faster, but you never know what’s going to happen. It just depends on how you play, who gets hurt.”

Felix said he was looking forward to participating in Omaha in one of the final events held at Rosenblatt, a new ballpark to host the College World Series starting next year. Especially so since Troy fell one game short of reaching the regional round of the NCAA playoffs in May.

He said he’d been hitting in the cage at Troy, and the home run derby would have been a good experience. Otherwise he’d planned on taking a month to fully explore professional baseball before concentrating on a final semester he needs to graduate.

His brother, Mike, a high draft choice in 2006, recently ended his pro career and currently is pursuing a college degree.

“I talked to him so I kind of knew the process,” Felix said. “He’s moving on with his life now. I just came out here to play baseball.”