Matt Vierling is the Phuture Phillies’ Readers’ #7 Pick.
Matthew Gregory Vierling was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents are Dan and Susan. He has one brother, Mark. His father played football at Kansas. His uncle, Steve, was a 1982 graduate from Notre Dame.
2011-2015: Vierling earned varsity letters in baseball all four years at Christian Brothers HS while also earning a letter in football and a letter in basketball.
He was named honorable mention all-conference as a freshman.
Entered sophomore year as preseason honorable mention among high school underclassmen All-American by Perfect Game. Recorded a .309 average with two homers and 13 RBI as a sophomore while posting a 6-0 record with a 2.65 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 37 innings. Named to the second-team all-conference as a sophomore while helping the team to a runner-up finish at the state tournament.
Helped his summer league team to a #9 national ranking by Perfect Game.
Entered his junior year as a Perfect Game Preseason High School Underclassman All-American. He hit .430 with five home runs and 34 RBI while posting a 4-1 record with a 1.69 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 29 innings as a junior. Earned first-team all-conference honors.
He entered his senior season as a Central Region All-High School Senior and third-team High School Senior Preseason All-American by Perfect Game. He hit .451 with three home runs and 32 RBI while posting an 8-0 record with a 2.07 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 44 innings. He helped Christian Brothers to Class 5-A state title, playing shortstop alongside his brother, Mark, who played second base. He was named Metro Catholic Conference Player of the Year, first-team all-conference, first-team all-state, Prep Baseball Report Missouri Player of the Year, USA Today Missouri Player of the Year, and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Five.
Prior to the draft, Vierling was named the No. 1 high school player in Missouri by Prep Baseball Report, rated second among outfielders and all prospects in Missouri by Perfect Game, rated the No. 30 outfielder in the nation and No. 134 player overall by Perfect Game, and rated the No. 163 draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 229 by Perfect Game.
Matt was drafted by the St.Louis Cardinals in the 30th round of the 2015 Amateur Draft. He opted to attend Notre Dame.
2016: Vierling entered his freshman season ranked as the No. 48 freshman in the country by Perfect Game. He started 54 games as an outfielder and made 10 appearances as a pitcher. He was fifth on the team with a .258 average, second with 6 home runs and 29 RBI. He posted a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings, striking out twelve.
2017: Vierling started all 58 games in his sophomore season and reached base in 50 of them. He also made 10 appearances on the mound, recording two saves. He led the team in multi-hit games (22) and multi-RBI games (11). He ranked fifth in the ACC with four triples and eighth with 20 doubles. He earned All-ACC honors after leading the Irish in batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.549), RBI (42), and homers (7).
2018: Vierling was named preseason All-ACC by Perfect Game and was named honorable mention preseason All-ACC by College Baseball Daily. He started all 54 games. He tied for the team lead in home runs (10) and total bases (106). He led the Irish in hits (65), and ranked second in batting average (.310), RBIs (43), and slugging percentage (.505).
Matt was drafted by the Phillies in the fifth round (137 overall) of the 2018 Amateur Draft.
2018: Vierling signed with the Phillies on June 12, 2018, and debuted with the Williamsport Crosscutters in Low-A 5 days later. He hit .420 in 12 games and was promoted to full-season Class-A Lakewood. He hit well at the new level and posted a combined .321/.365/.496/.860 in 257 plate appearances. He scored 32 runs, had 26 XBH (18 doubles, 7 HR), 31 RBI, 13 walks (5.1%), and 40 strikeouts (15.6%).
2019: Vierling spent the entire season at High-A Clearwater. He slashed .232/.297/.329 in 483 plate appearances. He had 23 doubles, 5 HR, 34 walks (7.0%), 94 strikeouts (19.5%), and stole 22 bases in 27 attempts (81.5%).
2020: pandemic
2021: Vierling quite the year in 2021. He began the season in Double-A Reading and finished the season in the majors. Vierling started strong with Reading and was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in June after 24 games and a .345/.422/.644 slash. After 3 games and a 5 for 12 start, Vierling was bumped up to the big club when the Phillies needed a body. He got a hit in his first MLB at bat and stole a base. He went on to post a 3 for 6 in 5 games before being optioned back to Lehigh Valley. He was called up for one game in July and then for the rest of the season on August 31st.
- REA – 102 PA, 6 doubles, 5 HR, 12 BB (11.8%), 18 K (17.6%), .345/.422/.644
- LHV – 236 PA, 6 doubles, 6 HR, 24 BB (10.2%), 46 K (19.5%), .248/.331/.359
- PHI – 77 PA, 3 doubles, 2 HR, 4 BB (5.2%), 20 K (25.6%), .324/.364/.479
Vierling played all 3 outfield position in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, the Phillies extended him out to the corner infield positions.
Vierling has accumulated 43 days of MLB service time but retains rookie and prospect status. He has 2 of 3 options remaining.
Phuture Phillies 
I hope Vierling’s ceiling is Jayson Werth like. Impressive progression through the years.