McGovern finally gets his shot

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This article was published 13/06/2021 (1575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 10 seasons and more than 900 innings pitched in the independent leagues, 32-year-old Kevin McGovern finally got the call he’s been waiting for.

The southpaw from Philadelphia, Pa., who starred for the Winnipeg Goldeyes for parts of five seasons before spending the past year with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, had his contract purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals last week. The Goldeyes all-time leader in strikeouts (479) has been assigned to St. Louis’ Double-A affiliated the Springfield (Mo.) Cardinals and is scheduled to make his first career affiliated ball appearance this week.

McGovern caught the attention of MLB scouts this year with a 4-0 record and a 1.45 ERA. He had his final start for Fargo on June 5 against the Kane County Cougars and pitched a complete game and broke the American Association career strikeout record of 701 strikeouts.

Not a bad way to potentially close out an indy career.

“I broke the record in the ninth inning, too. (Fargo manager Chris Coste) absolutely knew the record, but I did not. He didn’t have to send me back out there (for the ninth). It’s not like it was a shutout. But he thought ‘If we take him out and he’s one strikeout away and then he gets picked up the next day and never breaks the record, he’ll never hear the end of it.’ So, he ended up sending me back out and I ended up striking out the side in front of my dad and my brother who made the trip out to see me,” McGovern told the Free Press in a phone interview.

“When they announced that record, I had no idea… So the moment that it happened, it was so special for me to have my dad and my brother there.”

A few days later, McGovern was preparing to make his next start for the RedHawks. The team had lost three straight since McGovern’s complete game and Coste had called the troops together for a team meeting in the outfield prior to a practice at Newman Outdoor Field. McGovern figured Coste was going to give the group a speech in an attempt to get them back to their winning ways, but it turns out he had a different message to deliver.

“So we all come together and he had a very serious face on. He said ‘I don’t get to do this too often’ and he took his sunglasses off and had a very sincere look in his eye and he walked over and gave me a hug and everyone started shouting. I said ‘What’s going on? I have no idea.’ And then he said the St. Louis Cardinals purchased your contract. I kind of just stood there,” McGovern said.

“I’m usually not speechless, I’m very talkative on the team and I made a lot of great friends in Fargo for that year and a month. It was the first time I didn’t know what to say. They were just so happy for me that it made me realize when I was looking at them that I was a good teammate because of how happy they were for my success and they knew how much it meant to me.”

It’s been an incredible turnaround for McGovern. Less than 12 months ago, he was placed on waivers by the Fish after going 1-1 in seven starts in 2020 with a career-worst 4.78 ERA. Fargo picked him up and his numbers continued to drop — he had a 6.00 ERA in four appearances to close out the season with his new club.

Never mind a call up to the big leagues, McGovern’s independent baseball career was on the ropes.

“It was very humbling. I still felt like I deserved to play, but I understand the situation and where I was at and where the team was at,” said McGovern on his release.

“I realized that everything is a business and it’s never ‘what have you done before, it’s what have you done lately.’ Instead of putting blame on anyone, I just kind of took that to heart and realized there’s no one else to blame but me… So immediately the second the writing was on the wall, all I did was try to put my focus on getting better and being a better pitcher than I was in 2020.”

His time with the Fish ended on a low, but that doesn’t change the fact he’ll go down as one of the greatest players in franchise history. The Lincoln Saltdogs traded him to Winnipeg in 2016 and he made an immediate impact. In that season’s regular-season finale, McGovern pitched a complete game, two-hitter against the RedHawks to clinch a wild-card spot. Two weeks later, McGovern was given the ball on three days rest and won a winner-take-all Game 5 of the AA championship series on the road against the Wichita Wingnuts. In 2017, McGovern was named a league all-star and helped the Goldeyes repeat as champions.

“These are things that really helped to mature me… Obviously, Winnipeg is always going to be this amazing stepping point that is hopefully pushing me into a big league career that I would give anything for. But I wouldn’t have been able to do that unless I got those opportunities in Winnipeg first… Hopefully, now my mindset is ready to take on the big leagues. Obviously, the Double-A is the first step and I’m really excited to get on the field for that.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31