Electronic communication isn’t necessary because Alex is sleeping under his own roof in Crystal City again after his long, winding road in professional baseball led him home this spring.
Winkelman was released by the Houston Astros’ Class AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi (Texas) Hooks, last month and he quickly signed to play for the River City Rascals of the independent Frontier League.
The Rascals have been around since 1999 and their home field, CarShield Field, is in O’Fallon, Mo.
“We love having him home, but I know his dream is for this to be a short stop this summer,” Kelly said. “As a mom, you want your kids to reach their dreams. But I’m thrilled to be able to see him on Mother’s Day.”
Kelly and her husband, John Winkelman, along with several family and friends, were at River City’s season opener on May 9 to watch Alex, 25, take the mound against the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things. The left-hander was on a pitch count of 80 and completed five innings, allowing one unearned run, three hits, while striking out five.
The Wild Things erased a 4-0 deficit after the first inning and won 7-5 in 11 innings.
“He threw the ball well. He dominated at times and overmatched a few players,” said his father, who writes the outdoors column for the Leader. “There are some really good players (in the Frontier League). Hopefully somebody will find Alex, recognize his talent and give him another shot with an affiliated team.”
And that’s the point. As grateful as Alex is to find a job after being cut at the end of spring training, he’s here to find a way to get to the major leagues.
With the Rascals, Alex isn’t like most players in the Frontier League, who live with host families during the season. It’s about 50 miles to O’Fallon one way from Crystal City.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Alex said about the day the Hooks released him. “I’m getting older and the Astros are very solid and have very good young pitching prospects. My parents have seen a lot of my friends I’ve made along the way get released in spring training so they know how it works. They are very supportive and were excited to see me when I came home.”
Alex, a 2012 Crystal City graduate, played at Southeast Missouri State University before being drafted by Houston in the 21st round of the 2015 amateur draft. Over the next four years, Alex played on seven Astros’ minor league clubs in seven different leagues. Most recently, he pitched for two seasons for Corpus Christi in the Texas League.
In Alex’s pro career, he’s pitched 310 innings, has a record of 22-19 and an earned-run average of 3.86. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 327-147.
In July 2017, he threw a one-hitter in Corpus Christi’s 6-0 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders, who didn’t break his no-hit bid until the ninth inning.
“That was a pretty special night. It was unexpected because I wasn’t pitching very well at the time,” Alex said. “It came out of nowhere. It rejuvenated me quite a bit and it helped me do well the rest of the baseball season.”
Alex said he knew the kind of talent he was competing against in the Astros’ organization. As far as his release goes, he said he got a text from a team official that he needed to see him when he got to the ballpark.
“And you know what it means,” Alex said. “I headed over there, signed some paperwork. They thanked me for my time. It’s a quick 20-minute process and you’re out the door.
“I called my agent so he could get the feelers out there for the other teams. It was a couple of hours before I called my parents and sister. It was weird because it wasn’t something I was expecting. But I wasn’t going to be surprised by it, either.
“I had been in AA for two years and they said they didn’t have room in Triple A. I understood, they have top prospects and they’re tough to beat out when they’re 21 and 22 years old. I don’t have any hard feelings about it.”
After Alex spent some time at his uncle’s house in West Palm Beach, Fla., to “get my mind right,” he drove back to Crystal City and talked with his agent.
“Getting released out of spring training is the toughest time because everyone’s set their lineups,” he said. “I knew it was coming. Everyone was full. I had a lot of friends released out of spring training. I told my agent what I wanted to do.”
The 10-team Frontier League stretches from Missouri to Pennsylvania, and also includes the Gateway Grizzlies, who play in Sauget, Ill.
After a telephone conversation with Rascals manager Steve Brook, Winkelman signed with River City.
Players in the Frontier League are paid between $600 and $1,600 per month. Teams have an annual salary cap of $75,000.
“I spend a lot less than that,” said Brook, who’s been the manager since 2010 and won the league title that year. Brook has guided the Rascals to appearances in the championship four times since. He’s been part of the organization for 16 years, four as a player. The Rascals’ first manager was former Cardinals slugger Jack Clark.
Brook is a longtime friend and former teammate of Pat Evers, who coached Jefferson College to the junior college World Series in 2018 before leaving for Maryville University. Evers advised Brook that Winkelman would be a great addition to the Rascals.
“We’re pretty fortunate to get a guy like (Winkelman),” said Brook. “Our league fits his age bracket perfectly. We don’t tend to get AA starting pitchers with that much experience. If you’re a lefty who can throw in the low 90s, teams will keep you around. He seems like a nice kid. We’ve only known him for three weeks. He has ability to pitch at a high level. He wants to be in the big leagues and maybe we can be that stepping stone.”
Alex took that first step last week. CarShield Field is notable for its “Big Dog Wall” in right field, which is partly an old-fashioned scoreboard.
“It’s (the Frontier League) very different from what I’ve been accustomed to,” he said. “The hitters have a different approach. It’s more college-like. The trend in baseball is home runs. They’re big swingers and there’s more strikeouts.”
It’s not the first time Alex had stepped onto the Rascals’ field, which hosts the state high school baseball championships. John took him there when he was around 5 for batting practice.
Alex’s rise to pro baseball began to blossom his sophomore year at Crystal City. Under head coach Matt Holdinghausen, the Hornets won the Class 2 state title with a 10-1 win over Carrollton. Alex played center field that day and had a hit and scored a run.
But it was the lifelong friendship that was fostered that year Alex remembers the most. He was a sophomore that season when senior mentor Travis Hayes was injured. Hayes was to be Crystal City’s ace on the mound, a role that Winkelman filled and one that started to turn heads. Alex’s complete-game performance in a 6-5 win over Stockton in the semifinals gave the Hornets a ticket to the title game.
“Alex wanted to be like Travis and play like him,” John said. “Travis got hurt his senior year and Alex filled in. Travis continues to be one of his best friends today. In 2010 when Alex stepped in, that was the best part of that experience for me.”
It’s only fitting that Winkelman ended up being coached by Brook, who’s been steady and loyal to an organization that’s been through several changes in the front office and at times has had a strained relationship with O’Fallon, which owns the stadium and leases it to the Rascals. He’s been guided by Holdinghausen, who’s now the principal at Crystal City High, Pat and Zac Bone and Drew Horrell with the Festus American Legion baseball team and Steve Bieser (formerly of Southeast Missouri State, now with the University of Missouri).
Brook said he knows his job is to help players like Alex get noticed and get back to affiliated baseball.
“We want to market our guys to affiliated baseball the best we can,” Brook said. “He’s good against left-handed batters, but is also solid against righties. The new norm for pro pitchers is 95 to 100 mph. Being 91-92 is a tough sell at 25.
“You lose your best players and have to find new ones. You look at each season’s wins and losses and how many guys did you get into affiliated baseball. We don’t want them to spend a year in A-ball and be done.”
Dozens of Rascals have been summoned by major league teams. Pitcher Josh Kinney jumped all the way from being a Rascal in 2001 to the 2006 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, and pitched in two games in the series win over the Detroit Tigers. Joe Thatcher pitched for the Rascals in 2005 and starting in 2007 enjoyed an 11-year major league career, mostly with the San Diego Padres.
Alex will spend a good portion of his summer taking long bus rides to places like Avon, Ohio, Florence, Ky., and Washington (Pa.). But those trips are short compared to the Texas League drives between seven and 14 hours, he said.
He said he just wants to be a good teammate, help the Rascals win and wait for his agent to give him good news.
“I’m going to enjoy the summer. If I have to hang them up, I will,” Alex said. “This is a good summer job. I don’t need any training. I know what I’m doing. I’m going to take it a day at a time for now.
“It’s a new experience and we have a lot of dedicated guys who were on the team last year. I want to help them. It’s a different perspective as far as competing because you’re trying to move up the ladder.”
His sister, Alyssa, 28, is moving from California to Illinois after receiving a promotion from her company. At least for now, Kelly will soon have both of her children much closer.
That’s any mother’s best present on her big day.
“We’re very blessed that our kids have done so well,” Kelly said. “Both have been able to travel the country and world.”