BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
Mission Veterans senior Noel Vela committed to UTRGV early in his high school career.
He announced his decision on Twitter on Sept. 4, 2015, between his sophomore and junior seasons.
Then, on May 24, UTRGV announced that head coach Manny Mantrana was stepping down from his role. The decision gave Vela some things to think about. Trusting his future to coach Derek Matlock, who was just announced Saturday and had never met Vela, was slightly worrying.
“As of right now, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Vela said. “I don’t know how that works. I haven’t talked to anyone over there. I’m still committed to that school.”
Luckily for Vela, another option has recently emerged to make him feel a little more confident about his future.
“I had a workout with the Padres,” Vela said. “The workout was in Houston. It was pretty eye-opening. There were a lot of players there that are in college. Lots of guys bigger than me. It kind of intimidated me a little bit. But I felt like I did really well through all of that.”
The pre-draft workout was held on May 30. The MLB Draft begins at 6 p.m. on Monday with the first and second rounds. Rounds 3-10 begin at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The last 30 rounds start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Vela said he felt great after the workout. He had his fastball sitting at 90-92 mph, all of his pitches were on, and he had a good swing working at the plate.
Vela credited his Veterans teammates for helping him feel confident going into the workout. Despite all the accolades and attention, Vela has always had a tight bond with his teammates.
“A couple of guys and I, we would go every day for the past week,” Vela said. “We would throw long toss, hit a little bit. I helped them with what they wanted to work on and it was a good feeling going up there with that practice.”
After the workout, there was one call Vela wanted to make, and it was to his childhood catcher.
“The first person I talked to after was probably my sister,” Vela said. “I told her about the experience and how I felt.”
Vela and his older sister, Iliana, have been close all their lives. They grew up playing catch together. Iliana was a catcher for Mission Veterans’ softball team during her time at the school from 2007-2011. When she started playing catcher, she had a pitcher to throw to her in her own backyard.
Iliana couldn’t make the workout in Houston, but she made sure to find out how her brother was doing.
“She wasn’t able to go, but she was basically there,” Vela said. “She was talking with my dad the whole time, and my dad would send her pictures and videos. So it was pretty cool.”
Vela said he always dreamed of playing professional ball, but the workout showed him that it was closer to a reality than a dream.
When the Padres came down to talk to Vela about the draft, his family had plenty of questions.
“We are new to all of this,” Vela said. “(The team’s representative) ran down everything. Told them what was going to happen, where I would start, if it were to happen and where I would be all the time. He basically went through all of it.”
Vela was told about starting in the Arizona rookie league, what life would be like in the minors, and another key detail that will have an impact on his decision.
“They said that they would pay for school if I were to get drafted by them,” Vela said. “That’s a big thing too. They cover school, so that I could go to college.”
The MLB has a program in place that allows teams to reimburse players for tuition, so those players that forego college to pursue a professional career have options after they finish playing baseball. There is no time limit on the reimbursement and players can use the program even after they have retired, according to MLB.com.
Vela can’t know for sure if his name will be called this week in the draft, but he says he has two good options. Go to UTRGV, a Division I school close to home, or get drafted and sign to play pro ball.
“It’s pretty exciting since we are from the Valley,” Vela said. “I think our talent doesn’t get recognized enough and we have to work harder. It was a pretty good feeling knowing that somebody from the Valley is getting recognized.”