Venice High's Orion Kerkering a rising Phillies star as Philadelphia plays Arizona in NLCS

Near the end of the 2017 high school baseball season, Venice High pitching coach Jeff Callan watched junior varsity pitcher Orion Kerkering throw his final game of the season.

Callan’s assessment: “Very average. He was having a tough time with the JV hitters.”

Fast forward to the summer of 2017 when Callan was coaching the Florida Burn in AAU Travel Ball at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.

Waiting for the draft: Kerkering develops into a major-league prospect at USF

Another coach rushed to Callan and said “You’ve got to see something.”

On the adjacent field, the same Kerkering was hitting 88 to 89 miles per hour on the radar gun in front of about 15 college scouts.

“He probably gained 10 miles an hour in four months,” Callan said. “Coaches were ready to make offers.”

That was before Kerkering threw a pitch for the Venice High varsity team.

Fast forward again to the present and Kerkering is pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which begins tonight.

Talk about a meteoric rise.

“The most impressive thing for me right now is how mentally strong he is,” Callan said. “That was something we really worked on in high school. What I’m watching now and following him through the minor leagues, he really figured that out.”

Orion Kerkering a two-time state champion

Not only did Kerkering make the Venice High varsity as a junior, but he pitched in every big game during his junior and senior seasons.

And there were plenty of big games since Venice won back-to-back state titles in 2018-19.

“Pleasant surprise his junior and senior year,” Callan said. “He just came into his own.”

As a junior, Kerkering went 7-4 with a 1.19 earned run average and 99 strikeouts in 76 innings.

As a senior, the right-hander finished 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 39 innings.

“His slider in high school was always very good,” Callan said. “When it was right, high school hitters didn’t touch it.”

And more college coaches began jumping on the Kerkering bandwagon.

“Once the velocity went up, schools were interested in him,” Callan said.

Kerkering’s pitching mentality continued to rise, partly due to his upbringing.

His father Todd, the Sarasota Emergency Manager, was a Marine.

“He has a military background,” Callan said. “Once he figured that out and he got himself in a regiment that this is what I have to do to get better, this is what I have to do mentally to get ready for a game, he took off.”

Kerkering picks a college near home

Among his many college offers, Kerkering was aware of the University of South Florida’s reputation for developing pitchers for professional baseball, a main reason he picked the nearby Bulls to continue his career.

Groomed to be a reliever, Kerkering started one of his 33 appearances during his first two years with South Florida. As a junior, he went from closer to starter back to closer.

“I did almost everything a pitcher could do,” Kerkering said in an interview with the Herald-Tribune last year.

Selected as one of about 250 MLB draft-eligible players to take part in the Major League Baseball Draft Combine in San Diego last year, Kerkering said at the time it was an “eye-opening” experience.

Kerkering opened some eyes, too, while in San Diego.

Of the 10 highest breaking ball spin rates among the pitchers at the combine, Kerkering owned half, including the best at 2,985 revolutions per minute.

With a fastball that topped out at 97 mph, a curveball, a changeup, and his best pitch, an 83- to 85-mph slider in front of major league scouts, Kerkering certainly set himself up well for the MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Kerkering turns pro

The 204th draft prospect according to mlb.com, Kerkering went to the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round, 152nd overall.

Kerkering was excited about going to an organization that would use him as a reliever.

“I’m always open-minded whether they want me to be a starter or reliever,” he told the Herald-Tribune last year. “I’m more than happy to do whatever job they think is best for me.”

Signing for a reported $322,500, Kerkering got his professional career rolling by pitching in six games in 2022: one for the Phillies Complex League team and five for Philadelphia’s Florida State League team at Clearwater.

Kerkering began the 2023 season at low Class A Clearwater, moved up to advanced Class A Jersey Shore, Double A Reading and Triple A Lehigh Valley, posting impressive numbers at each stop along the way.

He was 4-1 with 14 saves and a 1.51 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 12 walks in 53 ⅔ innings before getting the call every minor league player craves.

On Sept. 22, Kerkering was promoted to Philadelphia and added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster, becoming one of seven pitchers on USF Billy Mohl’s staff to reach the majors, including Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Two days later he made his major league debut with a perfect inning against the New York Mets that included two strikeouts.

Five days after being called up, Kerkering picked up his first major league win against the Pittsburgh Pirates and he finished the regular season allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts in three appearances.

He's been even better in the playoffs, not allowing a run in three games so far, surrendering one hit, and one walk with one strikeout between one outing against the Miami Marlins and two vs. the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series.

Kerkering’s ascension through Philadelphia’s organization reminded Phillies’ fans of Marty Bystrom, who at the age of 22 in 1980 was a September call-up and helped the team win the World Series.

Coincidentally, both the 22-year-old Kerkering and Bystrom wear No. 50.

A star is born

On hand to watch every pitch was Kerkering’s dad Todd, the Emergency Manager for the City of Sarasota.

Todd became an internet sensation when he was seen crying tears of joy watching his son mow down major league hitters.

The videos of the Kerkerings rivaled celebrity couple singer Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelse for internet clicks and views.

Interesting tidbit: Both Orion and Todd’s first name are Richard. They choose to go by their middle names.

The pride of Venice

Callan, whose son Clay played for Venice High and was on the state championship teams, speaks of Kerkering like a member of his family.

“I’ve kept in touch with him,” said Callan, who retired as Venice pitching coach after the 2019 season but still teaches physical education at Venice Elementary School. “I text him after most of his outings. I spoke to him when he was driving from Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia when they just called him up.”

Callan has not seen Kerkering pitch since he’s been with the Phillies. But he has an entire 2024 schedule to plan a visit.

“I’m going to have 160 games to go to,” Callan said.

Just speaking about Kerkering makes Callan emotional.

“It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up just talking about it,” Callan said. “It honestly was one of the biggest transformations of a player I’ve seen.”

Kerkering is special to Callan in a unique way.

“I’ve coached 22 years, all the six state championships,” Callan said. “That’s the first player I’ve had who has thrown a pitch in the big leagues.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former Venice pitcher Orion Kerkering in NLCS with Philadelphia Phillies