COLLEGE: Vanderbilt
HIGH SCHOOL: Blackman HS, Murfreesboro, TN

See Zander's Stats

STATUS
• Signed by the Rockers as a free agent on 2/16/2022.

CAREER NOTES
• Set High Point season records in home runs (32), slugging percentage (.576), multi-HR games (6), and RBI (98)
• Played 1B on Vanderbilt’s College World Series Championship team in 2014
• Ranks fourth in Rockers history with 32 career home runs, all achieved in 2022

2022
• Led the Rockers with 32 homers, 98 RBI and 221 total bases while hitting .260 in 115 games.
• Set club season records in home runs, slugging percentage, multi-HR games (6), RBI
• Saw action at multiple positions including RF (37 games), 1B (15), 3B (19), LF (28) and DH (19).
• Finished second in the ALPB in home runs (32), T-3rd in RBI (98), 3rd in slugging (.576), 9th in OPS (.920), T-6th in total bases (221) and 7th in extra base hits (54).
• Set the club record by homering in four consecutive games from 6/29/22 through 7/2/22
• Had season-high six RBI at Charleston 6/17/22 including a grand slam
• Added an inside-the-park homer vs. Lancaster on 4/27/22

2021

• Spent the season between St. Paul (AAA) and Minnesota’s Florida Complex League team … Was limited to 11 games and 33 at-bats while rehabbing from injury … Played two games in early May at St. Paul and did not return until starting rehab in mid-August. 

2020

• Season canceled due to Covid-19.

2019

• Played 126 games at Minnesota’s AAA club in Rochester, NY where he hit .254 with a career-best 24 homers and 78 RBI … Added 40 doubles and five triples … Had an 11-game hitting streak in August, 2019 that included three homers and 11 RBI … 

2018

• Split the season between Minnesota’s AA Chattanooga club and AAA Rochester … Hit .311 with seven homers and 58 RBI in 101 games at Chattanooga . . . Played 15 contests at Rochester.

2017

• Played the full season at A+ Fort Myers in the Florida State League, hitting .250 with 13 HR and 67 RBI.

2016

• Played 128 games at Class A Cedar Rapids (Midwest) with a .260 batting average, 19 homers and career-high 86 RBI.

2015

• Drafted in the 12th round of the 2015 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Vanderbilt . . . Started his professional career at Rookie League Elizabethton (Appalachian) where he played 13 games and logged 36 at-bats . . . Posted a .316 average at Vanderbilt in 72 games, leading the team with 15 home runs and 68 RBI … His .571 slugging percentage was second only to teammate Dansby Swanson (Braves) … had 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts … Vandy lost to Virginia in the College World Series championship game.

2014

• Hit .260 with five home runs and was third on the team with 44 RBI … Teammate of P Walker Buehler (Dodgers), Dansby Swanson (Braves) … Commodores went 51-21 overall and 17-13 in the SEC . . . Helped Vanderbilt to the College World Series Championship with a Game 3 win over Virginia … 

2013

• Named to the All-SEC Freshman team … Became an offensive threat for the Commodores late in the season and finished with a .305 average, five home runs and 27 RBI … Teammate of SS Dansby Swanson (Braves), OF Mike Yastrzemski (Giants) and 2B Tony Kemp (A’s) … Commodores went 54-12 and won the SEC regular season championship while reaching the NCAA Super Regional.

2012

• Redshirted in his first season at Vanderbilt.

2011

• First team all-district, all-region, all-Mid-State and all-state pick at Blackman High as a senior where he was a first baseman and catcher… Was joined in the Class AA all-state team by Mookie Betts of Nashville OvertonHit .426 with five homers, eight doubles and 26 RBI for the Blaze to earn first team Murfreesboro (Tenn.)Daily News-Journal All-Area honors . . . Helped the Murfreesboro Diamondbacks qualify for the Connie Mack World Series.

2010

• As a high school junior, hit .406 with eight home runs and 47 RBI.

 

PERSONAL

• Alexander McBrayer Wiel … Majored in communication studies at Vanderbilt … Parents are Connie and Randy Wiel . . . Father played and coached basketball at North Carolina and is former head basketball coach at UNC Asheville and Middle Tennessee State … Randy Wiel competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics for the Netherlands Antilles before moving to the U.S. and playing basketball for Dean Smith at North Carolina … Became an assistant to Smith and eventually landed head coaching jobs at UNC Asheville and Middle Tennessee State.