Six former Stanford players earned spots on Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters. The group is spread out across five teams, while the Oakland A’s have two former Cardinal.
Sam Fuld, who was at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond on Sunday for Stanford’s game against Oregon, made the A’s roster along with everyday shortstop Jed Lowrie.
Fuld is one of two outfielder products from Stanford, along with the Philadelphia Phillies’ John Mayberry, Jr. The Phillies are guided by general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., also a Cardinal product.
A third outfielder, Carlos Quentin, will start the year on the San Diego Padres’ disabled list with a knee injury. He will be joined on the MLB DL by Washington Nationals pitcher Erik Davis, although the Nationals still employ a former Cardinal in reliever Drew Storen.
Quentin is three home runs away from passing Ed Sprague as Stanford’s all-time leader in MLB home runs. Sprague hit 152 homers in 11 seasons.
Jeremy Guthrie enters his eighth year in a Major League pitching rotation. The Kansas City Royals’ starter went 15-12 with a 4.04 ERA in 2013.
MLB All-Star Jason Castro once again will start at catcher for the Houston Astros. Castro, a .276 hitter a year ago, was on campus this fall finishing his Stanford degree.
Speaking of the Astros, Stanford grad Mark Appel, the top pick in last year’s draft, pitched three scoreless innings in his first spring training start to help Houston beat Mexican League team Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz, 6-1, on Sunday in their exhibition finale.
It was the Minute Maid Park debut for Appel, who lived in Houston until he was 12 and grew up attending Astros games. He had been slowed this spring after an appendectomy in January and made his first major league appearance last Wednesday against the Mets, picking up the win by striking out two in one shutout inning of relief.
Appel fanned three with no walks against Veracruz. He threw a perfect first inning before a single to start the second, but got out of the inning with the help of a double play. The right-hander gave up a leadoff double in the third, then retired his next three batters with two strikeouts.
Meanwhile, former Stanford standout Brian Ragira, meanwhile, will be on the San Jose Giants’ roster this season. Ragira debuted professionally last summer with Salem-Keizer after his selection in the fourth round of the 2013 draft.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics