RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesJack Radel being selected 28 th overall in the 2026 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros was more than just a milestone for himself.
He became the second Sioux Falls native in two years to be picked in the first round, following his best friend, former Sioux Falls Roosevelt teammate and current Boston Red Sox farmhand Marcus Phillips.
That draft also meant they were even yet again.
The duo's journey to the first round began in earnest in 2017, when they helped the Sioux Falls Little League team to the Little League World Series in its first season playing in the format. Nine years later, both are professional baseball players.
Little league fame
Marcus Phillips was a star on the 2017 Sioux Falls little league team, ripping off a two-homer game in Williamsport and delivering a couple dynamic pitching performances during the state and regional tournaments.
Radel was also on the team as one of the best pitchers. The team's head coach, Jeff Riley, said in 2017 the team had three co-aces, with Marcus Phillips and Radel being two of them.
But Marcus Phillips, who's two months older than Radel, added star hitter to his resume after clubbing some long home runs.
“Marcus is no doubt the most feared hitter we have. He swings the bat really, really hard,” Riley said in 2017. “He’s aggressive, and it’s unbelievable how far he can hit a ball. If we played a whole season, he would probably end up being our top hitter.”
The Sioux Falls team went 0-3 in Williamsport, but the experience stuck with the two stars.
"Having that experience at 12 years old, playing in front of tens of thousands of people is pretty crazy," Radel said. "You don't really feel more pressure than at that point in your life."
Marcus Phillips' father, Steve Phillips, watched that run from the stands. He began coaching both his son and Radel when they were between 9 and 10 years old with the Sioux Falls Cyclones, now Sanford Baseball Academy. He watched the best friends blossom into high school stars and draft prospects.
Steve Phillips said that run likely laid the foundation for where the two right-handed pitchers are today.
"Very few kids get to experience that," Steve Phillips said. "Then to go on and play at the collegiate level and play in front of big crowds, hostile crowds, it certainly has helped them to be able to just go out and play a game knowing that there are that many eyes on them."
Off the field, there were summers where the two were inseparable. Steve Phillips said Marcus and Jack basically lived together one summer and were seemingly competitive with one another no matter the activity.
Development days
As the two stars grew older, they began taking pitching seriously at different times. Radel started seeing himself as a pitcher by about age 14, and Marcus Phillips didn't until 17 or 18.
That realization was when Steve Phillips had to turn over the reins. He was a minor league hitter in the Yankees system but didn't claim to be a pitching expert. That's when things were handed over to Tyler Mitzel.
Mitzel is another Sioux Falls native and Augustana alum who pitched in the Miami Marlins system from 2018 to 2023. He got as high as Double-A Pensacola, but was released in 2023 and returned home.
He was working with Radel first and liked what he saw immediately. Mitzel claimed at the time Jack would be better than his older brother, Gus Radel, who starred at Roosevelt and played college baseball at Minnesota and Northern State.
Once Marcus Phillips got to Iowa Western Community College and began pitching more seriously, he tagged along for the pitching work. Mitzel said he worked with Marcus Phillips on becoming a pitcher instead of a thrower, with his athletic ability leading the way.
He said neither pitcher required many mechanical adjustments because of how athletic they are. Mitzel said they were in-tune with how their bodies moved at a young age and had already made most of the tweaks to fire at top speed consistently.
Mitzel loved working with them because of how coachable both athletes are. He said sessions nowadays include a lot of exchanging of ideas, but the friendly competition that has always existed is still there.
"When you have two guys like that and not only are they good and they play on the same team, but they're best friends, that's going to make you want to push that much harder," Mitzel said. "You see Marcus do this, JR (Radel) is going to want to do that. You see JR do this, Marcus is going to want to beat him."
Radel and Marcus Phillips took the next step at Notre Dame and Tennessee, respectively.
Radel put on 50 pounds to get to 250, having a more physical presence on the mound. He's also throwing harder with more crisp breaking balls and a cutter.
Marcus Phillips has learned to refine and harness his dominant offerings, while also learning how to think like a pitcher.
Draft day
The best friends knew they'd be high picks in the MLB Draft, even if they didn't quite know where they'd land.
They described their big days as being stressful, with Marcus Phillips constantly picking up a gallon jug of water and Radel trying to control his tremors.
"I was drinking a lot of water, trying to do something to cope with how I was feeling," Marcus Phillips said. &q...
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