Road to the Stros: Logan VanWey | Houston Astros Undrafted Prospect’s Untraditional Path to the MLB
i want to say it’s the most traditional journey to professional baseball so far Just been you know my career grinding through everything flying under the radar Had to go D2 I didn’t you know have a lot of offers out of college It was more mental that I didn’t know if I could keep playing baseball I let those coaches dictate how I felt about myself This whole situation’s helped me put into perspective how fortunate I am on it Logan Veno is a guy who went from undrafted free agent to triple AAA in just a couple of seasons It’s always on you You know no one’s really going to give you a hand out in professional baseball [Music] Baseball’s been part of my life since I’ve been a kid It’s been kind of the main sport I’ve grown up playing and you know just something my family gets to travel around watch me throw and experience So it’s been big part of my life so far I was enrolled in the classes at Southern So my goal was really just to go to college there and you know get my degree and start working But you know I always had good stats Always thought I could play in college High school I think my coach told me I gave up like two earned runs in varsity It’s kind of been know my career just kind of flying under the radar just kind of grinding through everything and I I tried to go to some joi schools didn’t really hear much and after you know hearing from a lot of coaches that they didn’t think I was you know good enough they didn’t want me at their schools just kind of one of those situations you know that I let those coaches kind of dictate how I felt about myself and as a baseball player especially So I didn’t I didn’t think I was good enough Um but Missouri Southern especially coach Darnell was one guy was like “You are good enough to keep playing I want you to play here for me.” There’s a swing in the miss He just waved at that I had already had plans to go play independent baseball So I knew my professional career was going to keep going And I got a text from Jim Stevenson one of the scouts here with the Astros and he was asking me if I wanted to come here and throw a bullpen And I was like “Yeah of course.” first like I I’ll quit this independent ball to me if I have to to come throw a bullpin at at a big league stadium and I think it was about a month into the season I end up actually getting to come here and throw in front of a lot of the front office which is the reason I got signed with the Astros Logan Van Wise he’s 24 years old making his space cowboy debut and the pitch swing and a miss and what a pitch and good movement two swing last year I had a good season my goal goal was just I was like I want to be in big league camp That’s the one thing I wanted to do And when I got the call you know I was super excited The biggest thing was just you know just show what I could keep doing The Astros have pushed it so far this spring So a guy who’s put himself in a good position to possibly win himself a job on the open day roster I mean if you would have told me I would had this spring training the results I got staying till the last day I would take it all day This is always a a a time of year where you have some really tough conversations as a manager and a general manager Wasn’t the news I wanted but you know everyone’s got a different journey It wasn’t my time So the Astros announced today these three players are not going to be on the opening day roster Pitcher Logan Van Y catcher Joe Hudson and also first baseman John Singleton I think it just really puts you know some more motivation to what I’ve been already going through you know Um but I mean Astros they’re the team that gave me the opportunity to play professional baseball You know they they believe in me I made the trip AA my first full season So I think that you know wasn’t the way I wanted it to end up but this organization’s given me you know so much to be grateful for And you know I think I’m I’m a big league belief pitcher and I I think I’m going to get a chance to you know help them sometime this year We welcome you to downtown Houston Texas where tonight inside Dyet Park It is a city connect weekend here at Dyken Parks Van why quite a story wasn’t drafted as we mentioned He started out his career pitching for the Glacier Range Riders So he bucked the odds a guy in Independent Ball who eventually got seen that year made nine starts And then after his ninth start at Glacier Range uh Astro Scout said “Hey we like what you what we see.” Well here it is Major League debut of Logan Van Wide taking the bump for the Houston Astros wearing the City Connect uniforms He gets that debut patch on the right side of that City Connect uniform [Music] [Applause] Logan Van with a shut out first inning in his major league debut And the Astros lead this game 72 [Applause] [Music] That was the best That was the best That was awesome That’s so good That was worth flying to Seattle and coming here [Music] It kind of changes every day you know If I hear a song on like Instagram reels or like Tik Tok or something I’ll add it to my playlist I think I actually just picked my walk out song this year It’s um it’s by Keylock So I guess right now I’m kind of in a Key Glock phase right now Um video games I like to play video games cuz I got a Nintendo Switch So I don’t know if a lot of people play this but I play Legend of Zelda a lot of the time So probably just video games or you know I like to go on walks or when we’re in Florida I’d go go to the beach or get like an oai bowl somewhere But other than video games um probably I like to go fishing I haven’t had a lot of time cuz you know best time to fish is around the spring but I’d say probably fishing There’s a couple ponds around my house back home that you know I’ll go I’ll go fish at sometimes I got some free time but other than that it’s really just baseball all year round which I I couldn’t complain about A lot of them are just so nitpicky Like in between innings like when I started in college I would have to have a towel and my glove to my right I would take my hat off I would put that next to my cup of water on the left And if I had a good inning I would keep that cup If I didn’t have a gooding I’d throw it away get get a new one So that was kind of It does doesn’t change anything with how I’m going to pitch it I think it’s just more of a reset So my you my superstitions are more of just like a like a constant in whatever I’m doing So if I have a bad inning I just change it and it’s kind of a refresh So that I’d say that’s probably my weird superstition
Going undrafted and playing DII baseball, Logan VanWey was unsure of his future in baseball After grinding through the minor leagues, Logan made his MLB Debut in 2025. This follows his Road to the Stros.
Road to the Stros presented by Daikin.
5 comments
Logan VanWey is just a different human he is good
I love these stories, it allows one to remincse as a youth who had dreams of playing ball – and doing so vicariously through these young men.
Love this guy….keep working 💪
The Astros are dumb as fuck for not taking Trever Bauer's phone call. Whats with all the Astro's woke shit going on, I though it was Texas for fuck sake.
He's very humble young man, I know him and you'd never know he plays pro ball. Hope he reaches his dream.