Former Bobcat makes local stops ahead of weekend series in Cedar Rapids
Tate Kuehner sat atop the steps to the dugout he began his high school baseball career in, looking back at the young eyes that gazed upon him the same way he once stared at former Bobcats before him.
There’s a lot of hard work between the bottom and the top step, and Kuehner is just starting to see the fruits of his.
Kuehner, a 2019 Marshalltown High School graduate, stopped by the MHS diamond this week during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Break to work out while in between games. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound left-handed pitcher is a member of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers — the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers — and his team begins a three-game series on Friday against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
Kuehner, just five years removed from his days as a Marshalltown Bobcat, will be the Rattlers’ starting pitcher on Saturday night.
“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “I haven’t pitched here (in Iowa) since high school, but it’s pretty cool. It’s nice to see all my family around and people you haven’t seen since high school or early college.”
Just yesterday, he swears, he was sitting in this same dugout looking up other former Bobcats who continued their baseball careers after MHS.
“I remember sitting there and you see guys come back from college and those guys are superstars, so it’s really cool to kinda be on the other side of that,” Kuehner said. “You don’t realize it on a day-to-day basis that guys are looking up to you, but it definitely brings you back down to Earth getting to do stuff like this.”
Kuehner met with the current Bobcats as well as future Bobcats during his four-day break back in his hometown, talking to and signing autographs for a local travel team on Thursday at the Marshalltown Little League complex.
“It’s unbelievable because you think back when you’re a little kid playing Marshalltown Little League and you dream of doing something like this, but in the back of your head you’re like ‘alright, will that really happen?'” he said. “It’s unbelievable, I can’t really put words to it.”
On July 10, 2023, the Brewers selected the lefty out of the University of Louisville in the seventh round with the 212th overall pick of the First-Year Player Draft.
Upon being drafted, Kuehner was assigned to the Brewers’ spring training complex in Phoenix. He finished out the summer of 2023 with the Arizona Complex League (ACL) Brewers, pitching just three innings in two appearances on the mound. He allowed two hits, one walk and no runs, striking out two, and went into the offseason without knowing what that meant for the 2024 season.
On March 31, Kuehner was assigned to the Timber Rattlers, and he’s made the most of that opportunity ever since.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, really. It’s a lot of new stuff getting thrown at you. Over the fall and winter and into the spring, you’re in a weird territory because you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know who your friends are going to be, you just have to know that at some point you’re going to be assigned somewhere and it might not be where you want to go.
“In my case, I was very happy with where I went and I’m around a lot of my friends and we’re a winning ball team, so it’s easy to show up to the field every day and get it done.”
At the All-Star Break, Wisconsin leads the West Division of the Midwest League with a 14-6 record. The Timber Rattlers are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Kernels going into this weekend’s three-game series in Cedar Rapids.
Through the first half of the season, Kuehner has a 4-2 record in 11 starts. He’s pitched 59 2/3 innings, allowing 22 runs (20 earned) on 44 hits and 30 walks while striking out 69. He boasts a 3.02 earned run average, while opposing batters hit just .206 against him.
Those ratios are a long way from where they started when Kuehner made his minor league debut in April.
“It’s a totally different game,” Kuehner said. “You just try to show up and not think about the next level, not think about who’s coming up behind you, just be happy where you’re at today and be happy you’re getting the ball that day and go out and do what you can.”
Two of Kuehner’s last three starts have been his best. On June 26 against South Bend, Kuehner allowed one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings, striking out five. On July 10 against West Michigan, Kuehner allowed one hit and four total walks, striking out two in six shutout innings.
“You’ve just got to know and figure out what’s been getting you outs, what’s been getting your team in a good spot to win, and pitch to those abilities as much as you can,” he said. “You just attack everywhere possible and just know that every day you show up you’re doing the right things to be in the position out there on the mound to get it done.
“You’re just happy to show up with a Milwaukee logo on your chest, that’s what excites me every day, and you just try to be a sponge and soak up a lot of new information and go out there and try to put it all together on the field.”