Former High School Stars in Professional Baseball

Dominic Canzone (Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit) has had a nice start to 2023 for the AAA Reno Aces.
After 29 games he's hitting .283 with 9 HR and 31 RBI. He is 2nd in the Pacific Coast League in homers and 4th in RBIs.
 
Dominic Canzone (Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit) was called up to the Arizona Diamondbacks today.
Dom was hitting .354 with 16 HR and 71 RBI for the AAA Reno Aces.
This will be his Major League debut.

He joins fellow Warrior, Ryan Feltner (Colorado Rockies and Ohio State), in the Major Leagues this season. Feltner is rehabiltating from a skull fracture in May.
 
pcbuck said:
Dominic Canzone (Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit) was called up to the Arizona Diamondbacks today.
Dom was hitting .354 with 16 HR and 71 RBI for the AAA Reno Aces.
This will be his Major League debut.

He joins fellow Warrior, Ryan Feltner (Colorado Rockies and Ohio State), in the Major Leagues this season. Feltner is rehabiltating from a skull fracture in May.
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Dominic is making his Major League debut today at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s batting 7th and playing DH.

The Diamondbacks currently lead the NL West with a 51-38 record.
 
Some mentions of Kyle Schwarber in this thread. Turns out, Kyle's sister was my son's kindergarten teacher this past year. I had no idea until she emailed the parents in October to say she'd be taking some time off to travel to Philly and Houston for the World Series.
 
pcbuck said:
Dominic is making his Major League debut today at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s batting 7th and playing DH.

The Diamondbacks currently lead the NL West with a 51-38 record.
Click to expand...
Dominic got his first Major League hit and RBI yesterday in Arizona’s 16-13 come from behind win against the Atlanta Braves.

Evidently he got paid $720,000 after being called up, which is the league minimum.
 
Just wanted to update the former Ohio HS players who are playing well in the Majors this season.

Kyle Schwarber (Phillies and Middletown HS) is 5th in MLB in home runs with 27 and 20th in RBI with 64.
Sean Murphy (Braves and Centerville HS) is 37th in MLB in home runs with 17 and 37th in RBI with 58.
Andrew Benintendi (White Sox and Madeira HS) is 21st in MLB in batting average at .284.

Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays and Genoa HS) is 8th in MLB in wins with 10 (only 1 away from the league leaders) and 36th in MLB in ERA at 3.91.
 
Former Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit SP Ryan Feltner (Colorado Rockies) came back from a long layoff since being in the head by a baseball in Mid May. He pitched 5 innings with 0 runs on only 2 hits and 5K.
 
www.cantonrep.com

In the bigs: Pittsburgh Pirates call up Jackson product Kyle Nicolas from Indianapolis

Nicolas makes debut vs. Cubs, becoming first Polar Bear on MLB roster, and first Stark County product in big leagues since Dirk Hayhurst 14 years ago.
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In the bigs: Pittsburgh Pirates call up Jackson product Kyle Nicolas from Indianapolis​

Josh Weir
Canton Repository

JACKSON TWP. — Kyle Nicolas is a big leaguer.

The Jackson High School alum was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon from Triple-A Indianapolis. He made his Major League Baseball debut later that night at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.

Nicolas is the first Jackson product to make an MLB roster. He is the first Stark County product to make it to the big leagues since Canton South's Dirk Hayhurst, who pitched with the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays for parts of the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

The 24-year-old Nicolas, a 6-foot-4, 223-pound right-hander, was 4-7 with a 5.20 ERA in 35 appearances (18 starts) over the course of the season with Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis. MLB Pipeline ranks Nicolas as the Pirates' No. 26 prospect.

A starter most of his career, he's pitched well since moving to the bullpen. He was 1-0 with a 3.67 ERA and 2-for-2 in save opportunities in 17 relief appearances with Indianapolis. He struck out 42 batters in 27.0 innings as a reliever.

In his 12 most recent appearances, that ERA dropped to 1.20.

The Pirates optioned right-hander Thomas Hatch to Indianapolis to make room for Nicolas. They also transferred outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Nicolas' former Jackson teammate Dillon Dingler currently is with Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit Tigers organization.

Nicolas and Dingler led Jackson to the 2017 Division I baseball state championship after being part of the school's Division I boys basketball state championship that same year.

A Ball State product, Nicolas was selected 61st overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2020 draft. He was traded to the Pirates organization in November 2021 as part of a deal centered around catcher Jacob Stallings.

Nicolas had a rough debut Tuesday. Entering in the eighth inning, Nicolas recorded one out and was charged with six earned runs. He hit a batter, walked two and allowed three hits, including a grand slam by Alexander Canario.

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com
On X: @jweirREP
 
TriangleMan said:
www.cantonrep.com

In the bigs: Pittsburgh Pirates call up Jackson product Kyle Nicolas from Indianapolis

Nicolas makes debut vs. Cubs, becoming first Polar Bear on MLB roster, and first Stark County product in big leagues since Dirk Hayhurst 14 years ago.
www.cantonrep.com www.cantonrep.com

In the bigs: Pittsburgh Pirates call up Jackson product Kyle Nicolas from Indianapolis​

Josh Weir
Canton Repository

JACKSON TWP. — Kyle Nicolas is a big leaguer.

The Jackson High School alum was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon from Triple-A Indianapolis. He made his Major League Baseball debut later that night at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.

Nicolas is the first Jackson product to make an MLB roster. He is the first Stark County product to make it to the big leagues since Canton South's Dirk Hayhurst, who pitched with the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays for parts of the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

The 24-year-old Nicolas, a 6-foot-4, 223-pound right-hander, was 4-7 with a 5.20 ERA in 35 appearances (18 starts) over the course of the season with Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis. MLB Pipeline ranks Nicolas as the Pirates' No. 26 prospect.

A starter most of his career, he's pitched well since moving to the bullpen. He was 1-0 with a 3.67 ERA and 2-for-2 in save opportunities in 17 relief appearances with Indianapolis. He struck out 42 batters in 27.0 innings as a reliever.

In his 12 most recent appearances, that ERA dropped to 1.20.

The Pirates optioned right-hander Thomas Hatch to Indianapolis to make room for Nicolas. They also transferred outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Nicolas' former Jackson teammate Dillon Dingler currently is with Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit Tigers organization.

Nicolas and Dingler led Jackson to the 2017 Division I baseball state championship after being part of the school's Division I boys basketball state championship that same year.

A Ball State product, Nicolas was selected 61st overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2020 draft. He was traded to the Pirates organization in November 2021 as part of a deal centered around catcher Jacob Stallings.

Nicolas had a rough debut Tuesday. Entering in the eighth inning, Nicolas recorded one out and was charged with six earned runs. He hit a batter, walked two and allowed three hits, including a grand slam by Alexander Canario.

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com
On X: @jweirREP
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1st Jackson player in the Majors. Too bad Mack wasn't around to see this.
 
Now that the regular season is over, I wanted to update how the top Former Ohio HS stars did in MLB.

Kyle Schwarber (Phillies and Middletown HS) finished 2nd in MLB in HR with 47 and 11th in RBI with 104.

Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays and Genoa HS) finished 3rd (tie) in MLB in wins with 16 and 18th in ERA at 3.60.
 
When was the last time a position player from NE Ohio made it to the majors? There have been some from southern Ohio, with the better weather and baseball culture, but I don’t recall many from NEO over the past couple decades. Only pitchers. Ryan Rua from Amherst (U of Kentucky) is the only one that comes to mind.
 
cjb5656 said:
When was the last time a position player from NE Ohio made it to the majors? There have been some from southern Ohio, with the better weather and baseball culture, but I don’t recall many from NEO over the past couple decades. Only pitchers. Ryan Rua from Amherst (U of Kentucky) is the only one that comes to mind.
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Luke Raley, Medina Highland and Lake Erie College. Current Tampa Bay Rays player.

Had a very solid year this past summer, his first full season in the bigs. Somewhat of a utility player, mostly outfield and first base. Did pitch an inning or two in situations where the game was out of hand.
 
pcbuck said:
Ryan Feltner (Walsh Jesuit/OSU) was called back up to the majors in the last week for the Colorado Rockies.
He pitched on May 25 against the Pirates. Ryan went 5 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 7K. The Rockies were winning 5-2 when he exited the game but would go on to lose 10-5.
Today Ryan had his finest major league outing, pitching 7 strong innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 6K and got the win in Colorado's 7-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
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Not really clear to me how you could lead 5-2 and get taken out and then suffer the loss at 10-5. you have him giving up only 2 runs in 5 innings.
 
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pcbuck said:
Ryan Feltner (Walsh Jesuit/OSU) was called back up to the majors in the last week for the Colorado Rockies.
He pitched on May 25 against the Pirates. Ryan went 5 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 7K. The Rockies were winning 5-2 when he exited the game but would go on to lose 10-5.
Today Ryan had his finest major league outing, pitching 7 strong innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 6K and got the win in Colorado's 7-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
Click to expand...
It's not clear to me how you have a 5-2 lead and get pulled from the game and wind up losing a 10-5 decision.
 
jdizzle said:
Is Travis Lakins (Franklin, class of 2013 or 2014) still in someone's farm system?
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He wasn’t in anyone’s farm system last season. He did play for the Lancaster Barnstormers last year in the American League of Professional Baseball.
 
Update on a couple of West Jefferson’s alumn:
* Caleb Ferguson, age 27, is entering his 6th MLB season. He was traded from the Dodgers to the Yankees this offseason. His career pitching #’s: 18-9, 3.43 era, 5 saves, 207 innings pitched, 82 walks, 247 strikeouts

* Shane Gray, age 23, spend 4 years at Evansville and was drafted in the 16th rd by the Yankees. He will be starting his 2nd full year in the minors in A League Tampa as a pitcher.

Good luck to both WJ guys for the 2024 season.
 
Dominic Canzone (Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit) is projected to start in LF for the Seattle Mariners, according to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.
He hit .316 with 4 doubles, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI in 43 plate appearances in the spring Cactus League.
 
From Highland (Medina), two players playing pro ball:

Luke Raley (Lake Erie College), is on the Seattle Mariners big league roster and has started a couple games.

From the class of 2020, Zane Barnhart (Hillsdale College), 2023 Orioles 17th round draft pick, is on the opening day roster of the Delmarva Shorebirds (Single A). Zane is also my son (dad brag).
 
Seattle OF Dominic Canzone (Ohio State and Walsh Jesuit) hit a 3 run HR yesterday in the Mariners 5-4 win against the Guardians.
He was a fan of the Cleveland Indians as a kid.

He joins former Indians fan Ryan Feltner (Rockies/Ohio State/Walsh Jesuit P) in having success against the Guardians in the Majors. Feltner picked up the win last April 28 against Cleveland giving up 1 ER over 6 innings in the Rockies 5-1 win.
 
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