Loggers in the Bigs 2022 Recap
October 7, 2022 – Northwoods League (Northwoods) – La Crosse Loggers News Release
LA CROSSE, WI – With the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season in the books, it’s a great time to take a look at how our former La Crosse Logger players performed on the big league circuit, 11 of which saw time this past season …
Max Scherzer, RHP, New York Mets: The 2004 Logger hurler from the University of Missouri continued to add to his Hall of Fame career by going 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA while striking out 173 batters over 145.1 innings pitched and posting a 0.91 WHIP.
Matt Chapman, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays: The 2012 Logger infielder from Cal-State Fullerton was the everyday third baseman for the playoff-bound Blue Jays posting 27 HR’s and driving in 76 runs over 155 games played while hitting .229 and playing gold glove defense once again.
Chris Sale, LHP, Boston Red Sox: The 2008 Logger southpaw out of Florida Gulf Coast continued to battle the injury bug that has limited him the past 2 seasons. The 7-time All-Star pitched in only two games, striking out five batters over 5.2 innings.
Lars Nootbaar, OF, St. Louis Cardinals: The 2016 Logger outfielder out of USC become a mainstay in the Cardinals outfield for the back half of 2022 and will be a key cog in their impending post-season run. The left-handed hitting Nootbaar clubbed 14 home runs and drove in 51 runs while hitting .228 over 108 games played.
David Villar, IF, San Francisco Giants: The 2017 Logger team MVP out of South Florida broke into the bigs on the 4th of July this past summer and went on to hit .234 with 9 homers and 24 RBI’s during his rookie campaign.
Korey Lee, C, Houston Astros: 2017-2018 Logger backstop Korey Lee made his MLB debut on July 1 and got his feet wet with the Astros collecting four hits in 25 trips to the plate, knocking in four over 12 big league games played.
Kyle Nelson, LHP, Arizona Diamondbacks: 2015 Logger southpaw Kyle Nelson (UC-Santa Barbara) became a go-to guy out of the D-backs bullpen this past summer, making 43 appearances (1 start) posting 10 holds and a 2.19 ERA while striking out 38 batters in 47.1 innings pitched.
Rowan Wick, RHP, Chicago Cubs: 2011 Logger Rowan Wick (St. John’s) ranked 46th in all of MLB in appearances with 64 out of the Cubs bullpen. The hard-throwing righty reliever posted a 4-7 record with 9 saves and a 4.22 ERA while striking out 69 batters over 64 innings of work.
Riley Adams, C, Washington Nationals: 2015 Logger backstop Riley Adams (San Diego) saw action in 48 games for the Nats, hitting at a 1.76 clip with 5 home runs and 10 RBI’s.
Andrew Knapp, C: 2011 Logger/NWL batting champion Andrew Knapp (Cal) saw some big league action early in 2022 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .128 over 39 AB’s before being released and eventually picked up by the Seattle Mariners who assigned him to their AAA affiliate. In July, he elected for free agency once again and was picked up by the San Francisco Giants and finished the season with their AAA affiliate. He is entering the off-season as a free agent.
Rob Brantly, C, New York Yankees: 2009 Logger MVP Rob Brantly (UC-Riverside) spent the majority of this past season with the Yankees farm team in Scranton/Wilkes but did appear in a big league game in late May for the Bronx Bombers, going 1-for-3.
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