{"id":313594,"date":"2025-11-25T22:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/313594\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T22:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:34:08","slug":"what-a-journey-four-brunonian-pitchers-pursuit-of-a-place-in-major-league-baseball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/313594\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat a Journey\u201d: Four Brunonian pitchers\u2019 pursuit of a place in Major League Baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early 20th century, Brown University was something of a breeding ground for professional baseball players<\/a>. But since 2000, only 14 Bears have been drafted. The most recent Brown graduate to reach the majors was shortstop Bill Almon<\/a>, a first overall pick by the San Diego Padres in the 1974 MLB Draft, and the most recent to reach Triple-A was shortstop Todd Carey in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s naive for anybody to show up in Providence and be like, \u2018okay, I need to be focused on how to become a pro,\u201d said Mark Sluys \u201919, a former catcher and current Area Supervisor in the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 amateur scouting department.<\/p>\n

For Charlie Beilenson, academics were always the focus. He traveled across the country as a high schooler, pitching in showcases with the goal of landing a spot at a top academic, Division III program.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole recruitment process was kind of trying to use baseball to get into the best school that I could,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI never really saw myself as a D1 baseball player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after Brown recruiters saw him pitch at a tournament in Arizona, even after he got word in the middle of a calculus class that his \u201cnumber one school\u201d wanted him on their team, and even after he became the D1 pitcher he didn\u2019t envision himself as, Beilenson\u2019s number-one priority remained academics. In his view, this dynamic wasn\u2019t a hindrance to his success as a baseball player, but a contributing factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back, all that discipline on the academic side allowed me to pursue baseball with no fear,\u201d Beilenson said, characterizing it as a \u201cplaying with house money\u201d mentality. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t work out in the end, I\u2019ve done everything I can to set myself up well on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s that attitude which imbued Beilenson with an unmistakable air of confidence, even while struggling to find results at times in his early days with the Bears.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe still went into every at-bat thinking \u2014 or in his head, knowing \u2014 that he was gonna get that batter out,\u201d Burley said of Beilenson\u2019s approach. \u201cIt\u2019s not performative at all. He really believes that he\u2019s gonna come in there and get you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes he likes to talk a little crap to the hitters, too,\u201d Fogell said of his former bullpen-mate, calling Beilenson \u201cthe quirkiest kid I\u2019ve ever met,\u201d a \u201cgreat teammate,\u201d and a \u201cgreat competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Beilenson, Fogell arrived at Brown in the fall of 2018, calling it \u201cthe best of both worlds being able to play Division I baseball while getting an Ivy League education.\u201d Unlike Beilenson, Fogell got to Providence by moving just about a dozen miles south from Cumberland.<\/p>\n

The local left-hander quickly cemented himself as one of the most trusted arms in the Bears\u2019 relief corps, throwing 21 innings across 15 appearances (the third-most on the team) in his rookie season. The last of those appearances came on May 4, 2019, facing Harvard at home. Entering with one out in the ninth inning as the Bears looked to seal a win, Fogell issued an uncharacteristic five-pitch walk, marking just his fourth free pass in Ivy Play. The coaching staff noticed Fogell shaking his hand on the mound in apparent discomfort, and removed him out of caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really bad at taking myself out of ballgames,\u201d Fogell said. \u201cThat\u2019s just stupidness, looking back. But in that moment, I\u2019m not taking myself out of the game. I want the ball in my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fogell was initially diagnosed with a minor flexor injury in his elbow, and was back on the mound for his first summer ball outing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League on June 8. The next morning, Fogell woke up unable to move his arm. After trying to pitch through what appeared to be yet another flexor injury, Fogell finally underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2019.<\/p>\n

While the difficulty note-taking and typing for classwork might have been anticipated, Fogell couldn\u2019t have predicted the twist his road to recovery would take. Just as his throwing programs were beginning to ramp up in the spring, physical therapy and rehab appointments suddenly went virtual due to Covid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being in my basement with a butter knife, scraping my scar to try to get rid of scar tissue,\u201d Fogell said. \u201cThat\u2019s what my PT was telling me to do, cuz I couldn\u2019t go in and see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fogell had been working toward the goal of returning in a 2021 season that no longer existed. By the time the long-awaited day arrived in Memphis on February 25, 2022, nerves accompanied it, prompting Fogell to begin warming up an hour and a half before first pitch and draw questions from his pitching coach Christopher Tilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was two and a half years since I stepped on a baseball field,\u201d Fogell recalled. \u201cI was just so jittery and so anxious to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fogell felt \u201crusty\u201d at first, but ended up putting together an impressive senior season, striking out 46 batters in 39 innings pitched. \u201cThe first year back in 2022 was a great year of just learning how to pitch again, and learning what my body needs to progress,\u201d Fogell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needed that year to kind of get his bearings underneath him,\u201d Burley said. \u201cHe was always that good. He just finally got comfortable again and healthy again.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Fogell\u2019s teammates weren\u2019t sporting a reconstructed ulnar-collateral ligament, other Bears emerged from the multi-year drought with matured bodies, skills, and mindsets. For Olsen, now an upperclassman without a game of Ivy Play under his belt after Covid unexpectedly interrupted what he called a \u201cwhirlwind\u201d freshman spring, the time away from the diamond transformed into an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think maybe it was kind of a blessing in disguise,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cI would have loved to have been on campus and competing and playing games, but those two years really gave me some time to focus in and hone in on my craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olsen\u2019s junior year didn\u2019t yield the results he wanted, but it provided insight into what he needed to work on. After an offseason of focused training, Olsen posted an 11.9 K\/9 rate his senior year behind a mid-90s fastball and what Burley, who later played at Wake Forest University, called \u201cone of the best breaking balls\u201d he\u2019s ever seen.<\/p>\n

When Covid canceled Beilenson\u2019s sophomore and junior seasons, he wasn\u2019t particularly concerned about the ramifications for a potential professional baseball career that he didn\u2019t think possible at the time. It was upon his return to the diamond in 2022 that Beilenson began to imagine playing baseball beyond Brown, no matter the end result.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened my senior year really helped me find the love for the game again,\u201d Beilenson explained. \u201cIt was the first time being back in two years, playing on the field with the guys, and it\u2019s like, \u2018wow, this is just the most fun thing ever. I have to do this for as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of the NCAA\u2019s decision to allow extra years of eligibility in the wake of the pandemic, Beilenson, Olsen and Fogell each decided to continue their collegiate baseball journeys beyond Brown.<\/p>\n

In his first season at Duke, Beilenson \u201cput on a ton of muscle\u201d to achieve a velocity bump while \u201ctinkering with a bunch of new stuff,\u201d adding to his pitch repertoire and altering his existing pitch shapes. In 2024, his tinkering paid off to the tune of an outstanding 2.01 earned run average \u2014 the second-best in Division I baseball, just ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays rising superstar Trey Yesavage \u2014 and 92 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. Beilenson had become, in Burley\u2019s eyes, \u201cthe best reliever in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of just a slow progression of, \u2018Oh my gosh, maybe I can. Oh my gosh, maybe I can,\u2019\u201d Beilenson said of his collegiate trajectory. \u201cIt was probably five, six years of slowly but surely dialing it in. Maybe a little slower than some other people learned to figure it out, but in the end it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his eyes on pro ball, Olsen spent a season at University of Nebraska-Lincoln before transferring once again to Villanova University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely loved it there,\u201d Olsen said, explaining that Villanova\u2019s coaches \u201creally helped me figure out who I was as a pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d always been so talented,\u201d Burley said of Olsen. \u201cHe always had the potential. He always had the stuff. It was always right there in front of him. For him to finally at Villanova this past year kind of put it together, and have a season worthy of someone signing him, it\u2019s great to see that finally come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fogell stayed in New England, going to University of Connecticut for a single dominant season. As a Husky in 2023, Fogell struck out 60 batters in 47.2 innings pitched, posted a 1.89 ERA, and finished with an 8-0 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before the opening game of a series at St. John\u2019s University, UConn pitching coach Joshua MacDonald approached Fogell to inform him that two scouts in the crowd were there to watch him. \u201cAs a small town kid from Rhode Island who was undersized and doubted, it was a great feeling to see that people are recognizing the success and what I could do at the next level,\u201d Fogell said.<\/p>\n

One week later, Fogell was on the plane ride home after an especially impressive series at Xavier University when MacDonald asked if he had an agent. Fogell hadn\u2019t heard any word that he might be drafted, asking, \u201cWhy would I have an agent?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna get you one,\u2019\u201d Fogell recalled. \u201cThat was kind of the first moment where I was like, holy \u2014, this could actually happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the early 20th century, Brown University was something of a breeding ground for professional baseball players. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-313594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}