A stressful few months for University of Cincinnati outfielder Joey Wiemer finally came to an end Thursday night.
While Wiemer sat with his family in his hometown of Temperance, Michigan, watching the 2020 MLB Draft, his phone rang. It was his advisor, MLB agent Scott Lonergan, with life-changing news: Wiemer was the newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
The Brewers selected the 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior with the 121st overall pick.
"I'm on top of the world," Wiemer told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Friday. "You know, the moment it happened, it was true joy. There's no other way to explain it. A dream come true. I wouldn't trade the feeling for the world."
Wiemer hit .263 with 13 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 42 runs scored and 21 stolen bases in a school-record 62 games in 2019. Wiemer started every game en route to leading the Bearcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1974.
After being named to Baseball America's preseason All-American third team earlier this year, Wiemer was set to have his breakout season. And then his baseball world was upended.
Wiemer's junior campaign was halted in March after only 15 games due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"I was stressed," Wiemer said, "just the uncertainty of everything."
Wiemer hit .264 with a home run and four doubles in the truncated season. Then MLB shortened its draft from 40 rounds to five rounds.
After watching the first round of the draft go by Wednesday, Wiemer knew there was no guarantee he would hear his name called.
"I won't lie, I was up at 5 in the morning (Thursday) just stressed," he said.
Wiemer was selected in the fourth round.
"It was a weight off the shoulders," he said.
Wiemer is the latest UC player to hear his name on draft day, joining Josh Harrison, Ian Happ and others. Wiemer is the fifth player drafted under Bearcats baseball coach Scott Googins, who took over the program in June 2017.
"I'm really excited for him," Googins said of Wiemer. "It's good for our program. He was our guy. Unfortunately, this season got cut short. But he was a big reason why we had that run last year."
Wiemer joins a Brewers organization that boasts one of the top outfielders in the game in Christian Yelich. The 2018 National League MVP won his second straight NL batting title in 2019, finishing the season with a .329 batting average, 44 home runs and 97 RBI.
"He's great," Wiemer said of Yelich. "There's not many people that can play like he does, run like he does, hit like he does. He's really got it all. That would be quite the opportunity to be able to play with him."
Teams have until Aug. 1 to sign their draft picks. The No. 121 pick in the draft had a slot value of $473,700. Players will receive $100,000 this year, and the remainder of their signing bonus will be deferred over the next two years.