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NECBL New England Collegiate Baseball League

The Road to 200: NECBL Closes in on Another MLB Plateau

July 9, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release


The New England Collegiate Baseball League is proud to have alumni scattered throughout professional baseball. Over nearly three decades, one-hundred and ninety-one former players have made their Major League Baseball debuts, and many alumni are currently climbing their teams' respective farm systems to fight for a spot in the majors. As the NECBL closes in on MLB callup #200, we took a look back at the road that brought us to this milestone.

The first NECBL alum to make it to the MLB might be one of the best to ever come out of the league. Joe Nathan, a right-handed pitcher who played for the Fairfield Stallions in 1994, debuted in the MLB with the San Francisco Giants in 1999. He lasted 16 seasons in the big leagues with a 2.87 ERA, six All-Star selections, and the best save percentage of any player with 250+ saves.

Since Nathan, players have been funneling from the NECBL to the MLB regularly. Long-standing veterans in the MLB had developmental stints in the NECBL during college. Former World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg pitched for the Torrington Twisters in 2007, just three years before his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2010. Strasburg has a 3.21 ERA over his career and is a three-time All-Star. A.J. Pollock, a member of the 2007 Vermont Mountaineers, honed his craft in the NECBL before being drafted in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft. The outfielder made his big-league debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012 and is currently the left fielder for the Chicago White Sox. Joey Wendle is in the midst of his 7th year in the MLB. The middle infielder was a part of the 2010 Sanford Mainers before debuting with the Oakland Athletics in 2016. Wendle skyrocketed his MLB draft stock with the Mainers, hitting over .300 with 17 RBIs and 33 runs. The Miami Marlin is currently batting over .280 in 2022.

Multiple budding stars playing in the 2022 MLB season also appeared in the NECBL. Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who played for the Newport Gulls in 2014, is already one of the best backstops in the league. Smith developed his skills during big games in Newport, batting over .400 in the playoffs. The Kentucky native was a first-round pick in 2016 and has 17 RBIs in only 91 plate appearances so far in 2022. Current St. Louis Cardinals infielder Tommy Edman also had a beneficial stint with the 2014 Newport Gulls. Edman, who is batting over .270 with 18 RBIs in 2022, has developed into one of the premier infielders in the MLB. The 27-year-old batted over .300 with 4 home runs and 20 RBIs with the Gulls.

Despite being in just his rookie season in the MLB, shortstop Jeremy Peña is already catching the attention of those around the league. Peña, a member of the 2016 Plymouth Pilgrims, hit 4 home runs and recorded 34 hits in the NECBL. He was taken in the third round of the 2018 draft and was named a starter for the Houston Astros after the departure of longtime shortstop Carlos Correa in 2022. In his first season in the big leagues, Peña has made a splash, batting .277 with 7 home runs through his first 34 MLB games.

Peña was the first of eight former NCBL'ers to make their major league debut so far in 2022. That list includes three former Keene Swamp Bats, and Mark Appel, a 2010 Newport Gull who was selected with the first overall pick in 2013.

Since 2010, seventeen former NECBL players have been drafted in the first round or the compensatory or competitive balance rounds that follow. In total, the league has seen 981 alumni picked in the last twelve drafts. This excludes free agent signings, which have helped hundreds of other NECBL products find themselves in minor and major league systems.

Over the past five seasons, fifty-nine players have made an MLB roster for the first time. This includes Nationals RHP Josiah Gray (Danbury, 2016), who debuted with the Dodgers in 2021, catcher Ryan Jeffers (Upper Valley, 2017), who made his first big league appearance in 2020 with the Twins, Nick Solak (Vermont, 2014), a second baseman who debuted with the Rangers in 2019, and LHP Eric Lauer (Keene, 2014), who made his first MLB appearance with San Diego in 2018 and currently plays for Milwaukee.

From the total 192 MLB call-ups, Keene leads current NECBL franchises in former players in the big leagues with twenty-nine, with first baseman Darick Hall being the latest Swamp Bat to debut. The Newport Gulls are just behind with twenty-eight after Appel's call-up for Philadelphia. Danbury marks the third and final team with over twenty players in the MLB, with twenty-five Westerners making an appearance. Vermont comes up next with eighteen players in the bigs. North Adams (9), Sanford (8), North Shore (3), Winnipesaukee (3), Upper Valley (2) and Ocean State (2) round out the next group of teams with MLB call-ups. Mystic, Valley, Bristol and Martha's Vineyard are all waiting for their first alum to reach the highest level.

As the New England League approaches its 200th alumni in Major League Baseball, plenty of prospects look to be the next NECBL product in the majors. JJ Bleday, who played for the Newport Gulls in 2017, is the number fifty-nine prospect in baseball in the Miami Marlins system and is currently playing in Triple-A. Matt Koperniak is in Double-A in the St. Louis Cardinals system and was a part of the North Adams SteepleCats in 2018 and 2019. Starting pitcher Gordon Graceffo, who spent the 2019 summer in North Adams, is dominating in the St. Louis Cardinals system. Pitcher Will Warren, who kickstarted his baseball career in the NECBL as a member of 2019 Martha's Vineyard Sharks, is playing in High-A with the New York Yankees after being drafted in the eighth round of the 2021 draft.

Whether it is top college prospects or players fighting to climb up MLB draft boards, all players come to the NECBL to develop. Players from all over the country play on one of fourteen teams scattered across New England. The New England Collegiate Baseball League consistently has over 25 former players drafted or signed out of college in each year's MLB Draft. The league also regularly sees players from schools like Vanderbilt, Louisville, Virginia Tech and other top-25 college baseball programs come to compete. Through playing in the summer, these players get the chance to hone their skills, learn from ready-to-help coaches and gain exposure for the next level.

The pipeline from the NECBL to Major League Baseball shows no signs of slowing down.

The only question now: Who will be #200?



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 9, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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