Gamecocks in MLB: How former South Carolina players are doing at the All-Star break
Major League Baseball has reached the halfway point of its 2022 season, with All-Star week festivities already beginning in Los Angeles.
Though the South Carolina baseball program won’t have any representatives in the Home Run Derby or All-Star Game, there are still former Gamecocks who have made an impact on their respective big league teams this year.
The State compiled a list of all former Gamecocks who have recorded a stat in an MLB game this year:
Jackie Bradley Jr.
After a down year last year with the Milwaukee Brewers, Bradley returned to Boston to play his 10th year in the big leagues in 2022.
The 32-year old has preformed as expected for the Red Sox, playing in 81 games and hitting .202. Though the batting numbers are low, they are higher than last year when Bradley hit .163 for the Brewers.
Bradley also got to log some time as a pitcher for the Red Sox this season. He made his debut on the mound against the Yankees on July 8 in a game the Red Sox eventually lost 12-5.
Bradley pitched one inning and gave up one hit, three walks and an earned run. He did, however, strike out Yankees slugger DJ LeMahieu.
Whit Merrifield
Merrifield has seen a slight dip in production from a 2021 season where he was an all-star and led MLB in doubles, at-bats and games played while leading the American League in stolen bases.
This year the 33-year-old is hitting .240 for the Kansas City Royals and is eighth in the AL in stolen bases with 14.
After playing in 553 straight games, Merrifield’s consecutive games played streak came to an end on July 11. The streak was a Royals franchise record and is the longest league-wide since 2007.
Christian Walker
The 31-year-old first baseman is currently in his eighth year in the pros and his sixth season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2022, he’s played in 90 games and is hitting .204.
Walker has continued to be a solid power hitter for the D-Backs, hitting 22 home runs this season. That puts him at fourth in the National League and ninth in all of Major League Baseball.
Jordan Montgomery
In his sixth year with the New York Yankees, Montgomery is playing some of the best baseball of his career.
Through 18 starts he’s 3-2 and has pitched 102.2 innings. Montgomery’s ERA of 3.26 is a career best. Along with his impressive ERA, Montgomery’s WHIP of 1.039 is seventh best in the American League.
Wil Crowe
The 27-year-old is in his third season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the halfway point he’s pitched in 38 games, tied for the most among any pitcher on the Pirates roster. His ERA of 3.36 and WHIP of 1.200 are both third best on the team.
Crowe has started one game this season and has a 3-6 record. Most of Crowe’s workload has been out of the bullpen. He has thrown 51.2 innings, more than any other reliever on the Pirates roster this season.
Jonah Bride
After a quick ascension through the minor league levels, Bride made his MLB debut with the Oakland Athletics on June 14.
Bride played 37 games at the double-A and triple-A level this year and was a force at the plate, hitting .354 this season in the minors. He’s played in 12 games since his promotion to the big leagues and has totaled nine hits and has a batting average of .220.
Clarke Schmidt
Schmidt has made appearances in each of the last three seasons for the New York Yankees but hasn’t found a consistent role in a loaded starting rotation.
After being called back up to the majors in late May, he pitched 24 innings across 14 games, including one start. In that time Schmidt logged 21 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.00.
On June 23, Schmidt was optioned to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ triple-A affiliate.
Taylor Widener
Similar to Schmidt, the Aiken, South Carolina native has been up and down between the minors and majors this year.
Widener has had two stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the first coming from April 24 to May 2 and the second coming June 3-7.
In that brief time, Widener made appearances in four games and logged 4.2 innings pitched with an ERA of 9.64.
Max Schrock
Schrock has been back and forth between the Cincinnati Reds’ triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats and the big league team all year. He started off the season on the Reds’ 60-day injured list before being sent to triple-A in late May for a rehab assignment.
The infielder was activated to the big league lineup on June 17 before being sent back down to triple-A on July 5.
After Reds third baseman Mike Moustakas was placed on the injured list, Schrock got the call back up on July 14 before he was sent down to triple-A again on July 17.
In his time with the Reds, Schrock has a .154 batting average across 13 games.
Grayson Greiner
After playing with the Detroit Tigers for four years, Greiner signed a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks before the 2022 season began.
He was initially assigned to the triple-A affiliate of the DBacks, the Reno Aces, and has spent most of his time there this season. Greiner has been on the seven-day injured list twice with Reno but is hitting .240 across 35 games.
Greiner was with the big league club May 19-24, getting one hit in two games.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 11:44 AM.
