Drew Storen Joins ‘From Phenom To The Farm’ Episode 112

Image credit: Drew Storen (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)

Drew Storen has trotted out to the mound in the ninth inning, tabbed as his team’s closer,
in some big situations. Massive games during his college career at Stanford, including
in the 2008 College World Series. Storen saved games in the minor leagues, in the big
leagues and in the MLB playoffs.

Knowing you’re going to be the guy on the hill finishing things out in the ninth comes with
pressure, but according to Storen, closing also had an unlikely perk.

“It is almost easier at times to close, because you know it’s on the hitter to be the hero,”
Storen said. “As long as you don’t make an egregious mistake, you’re going to be okay.”

Even as a freshman at Stanford, Storen was the guy to shut it down in the back of the
Cardinal bullpen, working during his two years in Palo Alto in a fireman role as
opposed to a traditional ninth-inning closer. He parlayed success in college into being
selected by the Nationals in the first round of the 2009 draft as a draft-eligible
sophomore.

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No 10th overall pick has entered a system with less fanfare than Storen, who despite
signing for $1.6M and making it to Double-A during his draft year, didn’t get nearly the
press of the Nationals No. 1 overall pick, Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg got the headlines, but Storen beat him to the big leagues, debuting on May
17, 2010, less than a year after he got drafted. In 2011, he took over as the Nats’
closer. It was the role he coveted, the role he’d been in at Stanford and the role he’d
been drafted to eventually fill—but a role he’d spend much of his career in Washington
fighting for.

During the six years Storen spent in Washington, the team acquired plethora of talented
relievers with closer pedigree, including Tyler Clippard, Rafael Soriano, Brad Lidge and
Jonathan Papelbon.

Storen’s 2011 would end up being the year he set his career high in saves with 43. He
spent much of the rest of his tenure battling for a set role in the pen, which admittedly
caused frustration.

“The game was so different then too—you weren’t getting paid for holds, you were
getting paid for saves,” Storen said. “It was tough.”

It wasn’t solely role-related frustration, as, despite flying to the big leagues and
experiencing success early, health and mixed results derailed him from landing
that closer job he craved. One of his competitors for saves, Clippard, ended up also
being a calming presence when Storen’s performance wavered, as he struggled to get
outs for the first time in his life.

“My failure was at the big league level—a lot of times guys have that in the minor
leagues,” Storen said. “That was different developmentally, I had to figure myself out under the microscope. It was good to have people around for that, because it was not
the easiest thing.”

Things all came together for Storen in 2014. He bounced back from a tough year prior to
turn in a career-best 1.12 ERA for the NL East champion Nats, in large part because of
a strong back end of the bullpen.

Storen was traded to Toronto following the 2015 season, and ill-timed Tommy John
surgery in 2017 left him a free agent with a rehabbing elbow. Following a short stint in
the Royals system during the 2019 season, he chose to retire—but didn’t waste time to
begin chasing another dream.

Storen (along with Clippard) founded Field of Dreams Whiskey almost immediately after
throwing his final pitch, bringing his love of baseball and a great idea to tie in the movie
of the same name to a new passion project, trading the job title of closer for founder.

On the latest episode of ‘From Phenom to the Farm,’ former big league closer Drew
Storen walks through his career from Stanford to the big leagues.