Kyle Teel just wanted to get the box open. But when the scissors slipped and caught one of his hands, the resulting gash was big enough to require a trip to the emergency room.
It was an injury that inadvertently changed the path of his baseball career.
“I remember I was in the hospital getting stitches in my hand,” Teel recalled recently, “and I look up at the TV and it’s UVa versus Vanderbilt.”
That was in June 2014. Teel watched Virginia lose the Commodores in the finals of the College World Series that summer. He was watching again when the Wahoos avenged that loss by beating Vandy to win the NCAA championship the following year.
Along the way, UVa became Teel’s “dream school.”
Now, seven years after first catching Virginia on television, Teel is a first-year catcher for the Cavaliers and one of the team’s leading hitters.
Teel has started the last 24 games, hitting anywhere from second to seventh in the lineup. Coach Brian O’Connor has often praised the lefty-swinging freshman for his aggressive approach at the plate.
“And when you’re aggressive in the batter’s box, you get rewarded,” he said. “Sometimes you get yourself out because of that aggressiveness, but there’s a mentality and approach that he has that is pretty special. And that’s why he’s in there.
“And he’s going to continue to be in there,” O’Connor added, “because he’s got a lot of confidence in himself, he doesn’t back down from anybody and he’s aggressive.”
Teel first committed to Virginia during his freshman year of high school, before he’d even played a varsity game. By his senior year, he was regarded by Perfect Game as the top player in New Jersey and the No. 11 catcher in the country. Teel told teams not to bother picking him in last summer’s COVID-shortened five-round MLB Draft because he intended to honor his commitment to the Cavaliers.
If COVID-19 hadn’t disrupted last spring’s college baseball season, Teel might have been in line for regular at-bats right away as the team’s primary catcher. But the pandemic opened the door for all nine regulars from the 2020 UVa lineup, including fifth-year backstop Logan Michaels, to return for an additional year. Teel began the season on the bench. Virginia coaches preached patience.
Seeing the situation as a chance to learn from those veteran teammates, Teel heeded that advice. He spent the fall and preseason getting to know his teammates on the UVa staff as pitchers. He worked on honing his eye at the plate. He tried to compete as hard as he could in practice.
“I think I’ve come a long way,” he said recently. “Really, competing against guys on our own team, everyone around you is great. I have a lot of great role models to look after, so you just get better and better. As a catcher, for instance, watching Logan. Watching his movements and watching what he does, I feel like I’ve improved exponentially.”
Teel didn’t play until Virginia’s eighth game of the season, making his debut as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning of the 11-1 win against George Washington on March 2nd. In his first plate appearance, he earned a seven-pitch walk. An inning later, Teel took a 1-2 pitch back up the middle for his first college hit and RBI. Three nights later, as the designated hitter for the opener of the three-game series at Florida State, he went hitless in four at-bats and struck out twice in his first start.
That would be Teel’s only appearance of the weekend in Tallahassee not just on the field but at the ballpark entirely. He started feeling sick after that Friday night game. A COVID test came back negative but he was still hit hard enough to be laid up in a hotel bed that Saturday, unable to watch the second game against FSU. He was feeling a little better by Sunday, well enough to catch the win that afternoon on the hotel room television.
“I was really upset,” Teel admitted. “I’m always the kind of guy that wants to go play, no matter how I feel, and I was just too sick. So I was pretty upset I couldn’t go out there and compete.
“I mean, it sucked,” he added with a shake of his head. “That’s pretty much the only way I could describe it. It stunk. It was just not fun.”
Teel was feeling healthy enough to be back in the lineup two days later, hitting second and playing designated hitter against Richmond. A pair of two-out RBI singles helped the Hoos win that game 7-0. That weekend, he homered twice in the ACC series against Notre Dame. Between late March and the first week of April, Teel had hits in five straight games. In UVa’s series-clinching win at Clemson, his two-run home run erased an early two-run deficit and his two-run single in the seventh—with the bases loaded and trailing 0-2 in the count—put the Cavaliers in front for good. Those four RBI set a new career high.
Teel had another five-game hitting streak snapped in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss at VCU. Despite that 0-for-4 night at The Diamond, he still heads into the weekend hitting a team-best .296 in 26 games. He’s had multiple hits in 10 of those games and his .378 on-base percentage is also best among UVa regulars. In addition, his .459 slugging percentage is second on the team while his four homers are also second on the team, matching Chris Newell last year and Alex Tappen in 2018 for most by a Virginia freshman over the last five seasons.
“I just try and see the ball, and hit it as hard as I can,” he said. “I try not to think too much. Just try to have fun up there, and whatever happens happens.”
Tuesday’s game also marked his first college start in right field. With Michaels as the primary catcher, Teel had spent most of his time at designated hitter. He started midweek games behind the plate at Liberty and George Washington and at home against William & Mary. He also caught a pair of games at Clemson.
“We like Kyle Teel behind the plate,” O’Connor said. “He does a good job blocking the ball. He’s receiving really well. He’s a talented kid back there, and we think that he’s got a really bright future.”
Teel considers himself “a hitter who likes to catch.”
“Catching is tough, but it’s definitely my favorite position,” Teel said. “I’ve grown to like catching more. The more I’ve done it, the more I’ve grown to like it.
“But at the same time, it’s all about just competing, and trying to get a win for the team,” the freshman added. “So it doesn’t matter if I’m catching, DHing, or playing shortstop. It’s all the same mindset.”
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