Oregon Baseball Has Record Nine Ducks on MLB Rosters in 2022

[Charles Fischer]

(From Oregon Athletics Press Release to Credentialed Media such as FishDuck)

 

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon set a program record with nine former Ducks on Major League Baseball rosters during the 2022 season, including four players on teams that have advanced to the playoffs.

 

Tyler Anderson (2009-11) highlighted the former Ducks finishing the regular season 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA while helping the Dodgers finish with the best record in baseball. The former first-round pick wrapped up the season with the fifth-best ERA in the National League while ranking 10th among all big league pitchers. He allowed just 57 runs (51 earned) on 145 hits in 178.2 innings pitched while striking out 138 and holding opposing batters to a .221 average. Anderson became the first former Duck selected to the All-Star game since Hall of Famer Joe Gordon in 1949.

 

Cole Irvin (2013-16) spent the entire season as a member of the Oakland A’s rotation making 30 starts while finishing 9-13 with a 3.98 ERA. Kyle Garlick (2011-14) played in 66 games for the Minnesota Twins while battling injuries that required four different appearances on the injured list, while former first-round pick David Peterson (2015-17) spent a bulk of the season on the big league roster helping the New York Mets to the playoffs.

 

Anderson and Peterson will be joined in the playoffs by former Oregon closer Garrett Cleavinger (2013-15) who joined the Tampa Bay Rays in late August after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Dodgers. Jake Reed (2012-14), another former Ducks’ stopper, spent time on the rosters of three different clubs. He started the year with the Mets before the Dodgers claimed him in July and the Baltimore Orioles then claimed him in early September.

 

                                                                Tyler Anderson

 

Stephen Nogosek (2014-16), the third former Oregon closer to play in the MLB this season, split time between the New York Mets and the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. He had a dominant season posting a 2.45 ERA in 12 appearances for the big-league club and picked up his first career win on Oct. 4, while finishing with a 2-0 record with four saves and a 2.30 ERA in Triple-A. 

 

A pair of Ducks who last played for the Ducks in 2019 made their MLB debuts four days apart in early September. Spencer Steer (2017-19) joined the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 2 with a bang posting a 4.000 OPS in his first game, the highest OPS by any player making his MLB debut in the modern era. Steer reached base in all four of his at-bats in his debut with a home run, a double and two walks, while also scoring the winning run. Ryne Nelson (2017-19) got his first big-league start on Sept. 5 and tossed seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He became just the second player in MLB history to throw at least seven scoreless innings and fan at least seven batters in his debut.

 

Overall, 26 former Ducks played professional baseball during the 2022 season. Kyle Kasser (2015-18), Matt Krook (2014-16) and Mitchell Tolman (2013-15) all ended the season in Triple-A. Johnny DeLuca (2018-19), Tim Susnara (2015-17) and Aaron Zavala (2019-21) were at Double-A to end the season, while Robert Ahlstrom (2019-21) and Gabe Matthews (2017-21) spent the year playing with High-A affiliates. 

 

                                                 David Peterson

 

Five former Ducks completed their season at the Single-A level. Pitchers Hunter Breault (2018-21) and Cullen Kafka (2018-21) spent the entire season in the California League, while Josh Kasevich (2020-22) and Brennan Milone (2022) were assigned to the Single-A level after getting drafted in July. Kenyon Yovan (2017-21) also ended the year in the California League.

 

Yovan started the season in High-A Tri-City as an infielder but moved to the mound late in the season for the Los Angeles Angels’ Rookie League and Single-A affiliates where he struck out 39 hitters in 20.1 innings while posting a 1.77 ERA in 17 games combined at the two levels. Yovan started his career at Oregon as a two-time All-Pac-12 pitcher but suffered arm issues that kept him off the mound during most of his final three seasons in Eugene.

 

Three members of the 2022 Oregon squad – Christian Ciuffetelli (2019-22), Anthony Hall (2020-22) and Adam Maier (2022) – spent the summer in the Rookie League after the college season ended.

 

Scott McGough (2009-11) continues his career pitching for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the Japanese Central League. He also became the first former Duck to pitch in the Olympics when he was a part of the 2021 United States Olympic Baseball Team.