NEW ORLEANS – Five alumni of Sun Belt baseball programs dot Major League Baseball (MLB) Opening Day rosters entering the 2021 season. The quintet has combined for 1,972 MLB appearances, seven All-Star Game selections, four Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Gloves.
App State alumnus left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs begins his first season as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen, following a Feb. 17 trade from the Boston Red Sox. Springs—who has closed out 19-of-59 career appearances—enters his fourth MLB season with a 5-4 career record, while averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings and maintaining a 5.42 ERA.
The Mountaineer product was a 30th-round draft pick in the 2015 MLB Draft and has made 15-or-more MLB appearances in each of the past three seasons for the Texas Rangers (2018-19) and Boston Red Sox (2020).
Tommy La Stella, an infielder out of Coastal Carolina, also begins his eighth MLB season with a new club—the San Francisco Giants. La Stella, who was a 2019 MLB All-Star as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, owns a .274 batting average and a .349 on-base percentage in 1,496 career plate appearances. He claims 360 hits, 72 doubles, four triples, 31 home runs, 164 runs scored and 163 RBIs for his career.
The former Chanticleer was an eighth-round selection in the 2011 MLB Draft and has appeared in 30-or-more games in each of his seven MLB campaigns for the Atlanta Braves (2014), Chicago Cubs (2015-18), Los Angeles Angels (2019-20) and Oakland Athletics (2020).
Left-handed pitcher Sam Howard, a Georgia Southern alum, returns to the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen after a career-high 22 appearances in 2020. Howard—who averages 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings—carries a 4.91 ERA and a 4-3 record in 46 outings into his fourth MLB season.
The former Eagle was a third-round draft pick in the 2014 MLB Draft and has appeared out of the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies (2018-19) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2020).
Texas State is the lone Sun Belt program to boast a pair of alumni on MLB clubs. Right-handed pitcher Kyle Finnegan breaks camp with the Washington Nationals, while first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Finnegan carries a 2.92 ERA into his second MLB season, after a 25-outing year in 2020. He averaged 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and posted a 1-0 record in his first season with the Nationals.
The Bobcat product was a sixth-round selection in the 2013 MLB Draft.
Goldschmidt enters his 11th MLB season boasting a .293 batting average and a .392 on-base percentage in 5,621 career plate appearances. The six-time MLB All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glover claims 1,395 hits, 305 doubles, 20 triples, 249 home runs, 837 runs scored and 828 RBIs for his career.
The former Bobcat was an eighth-round draft pick in the 2009 MLB Draft and has ranked among the Top 20 in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting in 7-of-10 seasons—including four Top 10 finishes. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2011-18, before joining the Cardinals.
App State
Jeffrey Springs, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays
Coastal Carolina
Tommy La Stella, INF, San Francisco Giants
Georgia Southern
Sam Howard, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas State
Kyle Finnegan, RHP, Washington Nationals
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals