Punt, pitch and kick: Wheaton native Bachar took the long way to the majors, but it’s working out
Kicking and pitching is an unusual combination.
During his high school years at Wheaton North, Lake Bachar decided he had a brighter future on the football field.
For a few years, that seemed to be the right call. He kicked 3 field goals for Wisconsin-Whitewater in the 2014 Division III title game and played on two national championship teams.
But he also decided to give baseball one more shot after his freshman year of college, and the results were amazing. Bachar is now a relief pitcher for the Miami Marlins with a nearly unhittable sweeper.
The Marlins are on a Chicago tour, facing the White Sox this weekend, followed by three games at Wrigley Field, giving Bachar a chance to return home for the first time as a major-leaguer.
He played just two years of college baseball at Whitewater before being chosen by the San Diego Padres in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB draft. Two years earlier, he was prepared to give up baseball completely.
“Junior year (at Wheaton North), I had to decide between doing football camps and baseball camps that summer,” Bachar said. “At the time, I had a better shot, I thought, at going D1 for kicking. So I did all those kicking camps and never really got much of a look from baseball outside of that.”
So he didn't play baseball as a freshman at Whitewater but went home for the summer and got a call from his Legion coach, Jerry Miller, asking if he wanted to play one more season.
“I was young enough by like a week or two to play another season,” Bachar said. “So I came back and played. I wasn't planning on it. That ended up kind of sparking my love for baseball.”
Did Miller think Bachar still had some untapped talent or did he mostly need another arm for Post 76?
“Both,” Miller said. “Obviously we can always use pitching. His junior year, he started the first game of the state championship for us and we ended up finishing second. He was a very good outfielder and hitter too when he was in high school.”
Bachar's original plan that summer was to work as a camp counselor at the YMCA in Lombard and lift weights for football. As he got stronger, his velocity on the mound began to rise.
“In high school I topped out at 88 (mph),” Bachar said. “Then I gained like 20, 25 pounds, and ended up hitting 90 for the first time. I played another year of football, got into baseball, and then I got into the Northwoods league (a summer league for college players), and I ended up hitting 95.”
That's how the word got out. Bachar struck out 102 in 93 innings during his second year of baseball at Whitewater and was snapped up in the draft.
The minor leagues was a long climb. Between the season getting canceled by COVID in 2020 and Tommy John surgery in ’21, Bachar went two full years without playing. He was finally called up by the Padres last year on Aug. 25, but even that had a strange twist.
He suited up in one game for the Padres, didn't pitch and was designated for assignment the next day. However, the Marlins claimed him off waivers and he made his MLB debut on Sept. 8 against the Phillies.
“I'd been with the Padres for a long time,” Bachar said. “I didn't know if the grass was greener anywhere else and happened to be. So just grateful for the opportunity the Marlins are given me.”
Bachar got off to a great start this season in Miami. He was touched up by the Dodgers earlier this week for 6 runs. That one outing saw his ERA rise from 2.41 to 5.21, but his batting average against is a stellar .169.
“He's such a great kid. I text him all the time,” Miller said. “I went to his opening series this year against the Pirates. We had another kid who played on his Legion team that's an advance scout for the Pirates (Montini grad Jake Mencacci).”
Bachar was actually a triple-threat kicker at Whitewater — field goals, kickoffs and punter. Fortunately, he decided not to punt on pitching.