Four Diamond Dawgs to square off in AL Wild Card showdown
October is here and with it comes the excitement of the MLB playoff.
Each year, it seems former Mississippi State players are making their mark in the postseason. Last year, Nathaniel Lowe and the Texas Rangers brought home a World Series championship. This season, a new team will be crowned and four Bulldogs will have a chance to do their part.
All four active roster players will go head-to-head beginning on Tuesday afternoon in the American League Wildcard series as the No. 5 seeded Kansas City Royals take on the No. 4 seed Baltimore Orioles.
Three of the former Bulldogs are all on the same team with the Royals as former college teammates were reunited this year in RHP Chris Stratton, OF Hunter Renfroe and MIF Adam Frazier.
Stratton logged a lot of innings for the Royals this year as the Tupelo native pitched in 57 games and 58.1 frames. The former SEC Pitcher of the Year was 4-3 with a 5.55 ERA with four saves and 44 strikeouts to 33 walks.
A fellow former first round pick, Renfroe finished the regular season with a .229 batting average in 120 games with 15 home runs, 88 hits and 52 RBI. The Crystal Springs native has played in 961 career games with 790 hits, 192 home runs, 180 doubles and 506 RBI.
Frazier didn’t quite have his most productive season this year with a .202 average and 53 hits in 104 games, but he has put together a strong nine-year career to this point. In 1,066 career games, Frazier has 903 hits with a .264 batting average.
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Representing State for the Orioles is another former first rounder in Jordan Westburg. After breaking in last year as a Rookie, 2024 was a breakout season for Westburg in every way. He was an MLB All-Star as he batted .264 with 110 hits in 107 games, 26 doubles, 18 home runs, 63 RBI and 26 doubles.
Westburg’s numbers were hampered a bit due to losing time with a broken hand back in August. He spent over a month rehabbing before returning a couple of weeks ago and is set to make his impact this week.
The series begins on Tuesday afternoon at 3:08 p.m. CT on ESPN2 with game two set for Wednesday at 3:38 p.m. on ESPN. An if necessary game three will come on Thursday afternoon at 3:08 p.m. on ESPN.
State has two more players that are a part of playoff teams this year but who are rehabbing injuries that kept them out all season. RHP Kendall Graveman’s Houston Astros will take on the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday for game one while RHP Brandon Woodruff’s Milwaukee Brewers play the New York Mets.
