Newport Alum Graves '13 Makes MLB Debut with Miami
June 27, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Brett Graves (Missouri), a member of the 2013 Newport Gulls who had as dominant of a summer on the mound as any other in league history became the 148th New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) alumnus to earn a call-up to the Major Leagues after doing so on June 17 as a member of the Miami Marlins.
Graves completed a long and arduous journey from high school, to college, and through four-plus seasons in the Minor Leagues, although his first MLB appearance with the Marlins was as short as his road to the Majors had been long. He entered in the eighth inning and made quick work of Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Mark Trumbo by inducing an inning-ending groundout.
As a 2017 Rule 5 Draft pick, Graves suffered an oblique strain in Spring Training, delaying his anticipated arrival a few extra months. But the wait was well worth it; Graves has stuck with the Marlins since then, tossing a full inning of relief with two strikeouts five days later against the Rockies.
After a relatively injury-free career, a range of injuries over the last year had kept Graves off a roster since last June. Preceding that, he pitched 381 1/3 Minor League innings after being drafted out of Missouri in the third round by Oakland in 2014. In total, he had logged nearly 400 innings of work with 270 strikeouts and 120 walks while averaging 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
The right-hander earned NECBL All-Star and First Team All-NECBL honors in the summer of 2013, going 4-0 in six regular season starts while dazzling with a sparkling 1.00 ERA and 30 strikeouts compared to just 15 walks and 20 hits over 35-2/3 innings. He went 2-0 in a pair of postseason starts, as well.
Graves was selected in the third round, 101st overall, by the Athletics in the 2014 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
In 2014, Graves led the Tigers with 64 strikeouts and held opponents to a .271 batting average. He was seventh in the SEC in innings pitched (93) and ninth in walks allowed (18). The 21-year-old was awarded SEC Co-Pitcher of the week on March 3rd after pitching 15 consecutive scoreless innings over two starts.
Graves is the fourth NECBL veteran to make his MLB debut this spring, joining John Andreoli (Pittsfield '09), Eric Lauer (Keene '14) and Michael Gerber (Ocean State '13). The NECBL now has seen 148 alumni to reach the Big Leagues, and the four ex-NECBLers are among 33 alumni to have reached the Majors at some point in 2018.
The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the NECBL started play in 1994 and is enjoying its 25th-year anniversary season this summer. The New England League has sent nearly 150 alumni to the Major Leagues and has had close to 100 alumni taken in the MLB Draft in each of the last 10 seasons.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 27, 2018
- Mainers Win a Marathon Pitchers Duel on One Swing - Sanford Mainers
- Newport Alum Graves '13 Makes MLB Debut with Miami - NECBL
- Keene Run over by Plymouth 10-2 - Keene Swamp Bats
- Nighthawks and Mountaineers Rained Out - Upper Valley Nighthawks
- Graves Makes MLB Debut - Newport Gulls
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