These are the major-league (and minor-league) baseball players from Wisconsin in 2022
Former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater pitcher Lake Bachar made a long-awaited return to the mound May 15 with some stellar results.
Bachar, an Illinois native who played both football and baseball at Whitewater, threw the first three innings of a combined no-hitter with the Class AA San Antonio Missions, an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. It was Bachar's first start since 2019; he didn't pitch during the shutdown of the 2020 season and suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for 2021.
Three relievers pitched behind Bachar's opening three frames to combine on the no-no.
Bachar followed that up six days later with four innings of work, allowing one run on two hits.
Though he didn't play high school baseball in Wisconsin, surely we can claim him as an honorary Wisconsinite, right? Led by Gavin Lux, Owen Miller, Daulton Varsho and former Brewers reliever J.P. Feyereisen, Wisconsin has continued to make an impact at the big-league level, but who's next from the Badger State to make a major-league debut?
All stats are through May 22, 2022.
More: A pair of potential high MLB draft picks headline the 11 Division I college baseball players to watch from Wisconsin in 2022
In the majors
J.P. Feyereisen (River Falls), Tampa Bay Rays. After his trade from the Brewers last year in the exchange that brought Willy Adames to Milwaukee, he was an excellent option for the Rays last season, posting a 2.45 ERA out of the bullpen in 34 games. This year? He hasn't allowed a single earned run in 20 innings, with just five hits, four walks and 20 strikeouts. His WHIP is a miniscule 0.450. It's the most innings of any pitcher in MLB who hasn't allowed an earned run (he has allowed one unearned run).
Danny Jansen (Appleton West), Toronto Blue Jays. The catcher has been sidelined by an oblique strain this year (though he's been excellent when he's been available, with a 1.079 OPS and three homers in 10 games). He's primarily a defensive player, but he had a strong 2021 season in 205 plate appearances.
Gavin Lux (Kenosha Indian Trail), Los Angeles Dodgers. He has been a second baseman and outfielder for one of baseball's best teams, with a .255 average and .672 OPS in the first 35 games. He delivered a walk-off two-run double against former Brewers reliever Corey Knebel to lift his team to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia on May 15.
Owen Miller (Ozaukee), Cleveland Guardians. The infielder started the season on fire and has cooled a bit since, but he still has a .294 batting average and .861 OPS in 124 plate appearances over 31 games. He's reached base in 12 of 15 games in May and has a sacrifice fly in one of the games he hasn't reached.
Daulton Varsho (Marshfield), Arizona Diamondbacks. The first UW-Milwaukee alumnus to reach the big leagues is having a good year so far, serving the rare multi-positional role of centerfielder and catcher. He has a .262 batting average and .789 OPS, with seven homers in 162 plate appearances. At 21-22, the Diamondbacks are performing better than anticipated.
On the 40-man
Jarred Kelenic (Waukesha West), Seattle Mariners. He rose to become one of the top prospects in baseball, and the 22-year-old is a big part of Seattle's future. After a thrilling finish to his rookie season last year, when the Mariners just missed the playoffs, he came out of the gate slowly this year (.140 average/.509 OPS in 30 games) and was recently sent to Class AAA.
Ben Rortvedt (Verona), New York Yankees. The catcher made his major-league debut at 23 years old last year, with three homers and a .510 OPS over 98 plate appearances, but now he's sidelined with a knee injury suffered in rehab from a right oblique strain and was just moved to the 60-day injured list.
Jonathan Stiever (Cedarburg), Chicago White Sox. He briefly saw action in 2020 and 2021, though he's recovering from lat surgery in August. He's listed as the No. 17 prospect in the White Sox system by MLB.com.
Terrin Vavra (Menomonie), Baltimore Orioles. The second baseman regarded as the organization's No. 14 prospect has done well at Class AAA, with a .327 average and .858 OPS, with an on-base mark of .435, though that's only over 13 games before he went on the injured list with a hamstring issue. As of the weekend, he's reportedly nearing a rehab start. If healthy, he's in line to be the next Wisconsinite to make his major-league debut. He was drafted in the third round in 2018 by the Rockies but was traded in 2020 for the deal that sent Mychal Givens to Colorado.
Top prospect pipeline
Alex Binelas (Oak Creek), Boston Red Sox. Traded from the Brewers organization in the Hunter Renfroe deal, he is looking like a future big-leaguer and is the No. 21 prospect in the Red Sox organization. The third baseman has a .952 OPS at Advanced Class A with 10 homers in 120 at-bats.
Tanner Kolhhepp (Eau Claire Memorial), Detroit Tigers. The fifth-round pick in 2021 is the organization's No. 21 prospect, though he hasn't pitched in the minors yet. He developed into a top prospect at Notre Dame.
Alec Marsh (Milwaukee Reagan), Kansas City Royals. The No. 12 prospect in the Royals organization was the 70th overall pick in 2019. In 2022, he has a 5.79 ERA over seven starts at Class AA.
Noah Miller (Ozaukee), Minnesota Twins. Owen's brother and the No. 36 overall pick in 2021, the shortstop has a .270 average and .791 OPS with two home runs and a .410 on-base percentage at Class A. He's ranked No. 9 in the Twins system.
AJ Vukovich (East Troy), Arizona Diamondbacks. The outfielder who is the No. 8 prospect in the organization and a fourth-round pick in 2020 has a .742 OPS and .302 batting average at Advanced Class A. He's currently on the seven-day injured list.
Competing at Class AAA
Caleb Boushley (Hortonville), Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers selected him in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft, and the 28-year-old has fared decently at Nashville, with a 4-2 record and 4.23 ERA, with a 1.23 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 44⅔ innings.
Alex Call (River Falls), Chicago White Sox. The outfielder has a .275 average and impressive .877 OPS, with three homers and 12 RBI in 29 games.
Kyle Cody (Chippewa Falls McDonell), Texas Rangers. He made his major-league debut in 2020 but has battled injuries. He was limited to seven big-league games last year and is on the 60-day injured list after shoulder surgery. His projected return will come late in the summer.
Brian Keller (Germantown), Boston Red Sox. The former Yankees farmhand has been working his way through the minors since 2016, and he has an 0-2 record with a 6.20 ERA in eight games this season after posting a 2.77 mark in 26 games last year.
Taylor Kohlwey (Holmen), San Diego Padres. The outfielder out of UW-La Crosse has a solid .297 batting average and .844 OPS this season, with 12 doubles and two homers in 39 games.
Keep an eye on these guys
Jeren Kendall (Holmen), Los Angeles Dodgers. The outfielder out of Vanderbilt was the Dodgers' first-round pick (23rd overall) in 2017. He's batting .205 with a .659 OPS in 22 games at Class AA this year.
Justin Lavey (Kenosha Tremper), Seattle Mariners. The second baseman has an .872 OPS and .310 average at Advanced Class A, with two homers and eight other extra-base hits in 23 games.
Matt Osterberg (Coleman), Philadelphia Phillies. The left-handed pitcher has a 3.15 ERA in 20 innings with a 1.35 WHIP at Class A (five starts, seven appearances).
Simon Rosenblum-Larson (Madison West), Tampa Bay Rays. He's started the season on the injured list after a 10.80 ERA in 15 innings during the 2021 season. He was very good in the minors the two years before that. The Harvard alumnus has advocated for a minor-league living wage, including with a column in the Washington Post.
Trevor Schwecke (Marshfield), Toronto Blue Jays. The former standout infielder at UW-Milwaukee has a .286 average and .924 OPS in 20 games so far at Advanced Class A.
Austin Schulfer (Stevens Point), Minnesota Twins. Another UWM alumnus, he's posting huge numbers with a 0.44 ERA in 13 games at Class AA this year, though he's already 26 years old. He has a WHIP of 0.63 and 28 strikeouts to just four walks in 20⅔ innings, putting up a league-leading six saves.
Scott Schreiber (Kimberly), Houston Astros. The corner outfielder posted an .882 OPS last year with 17 homers over stops at Advanced Class A and Class AA, earning an invite to spring training, but he's opened the year on the 60-day injured list.
Jake Sommers (Hortonville), Colorado Rockies. The former UWM pitcher was part of the trade that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis Cardinals, though he had a 5.59 ERA last year in Advanced Class A. He's on the 60-day injured list after encountering elbow soreness.
Eric Torres (Sussex Hamilton), Los Angeles Angels. The 2021 draft pick (14th round) has a superb 1.69 ERA in 16 innings and five saves and five holds while competing in Class AA. He pitched in eight games last year after signing out of Kansas State.
Other Wisconsinites in the minors
Jack Blomgren (Janesville Craig), Colorado Rockies. The shortstop taken in the fifth round of the 2020 draft posted a quality .798 OPS as a shortstop at Advanced Class A last year and has 17 Class AA at-bats this year, with a homer and two doubles among his six hits, plus five RBI.
Cade Bunnell (Stoughton), Atlanta Braves. The Indiana alumnus has a .173 batting average and .600 OPS with a pair of homers over two stops this year (Advanced Class A and Class AA). But at the higher level, he's 3 for 8 with a double. The second baseman was taken in the 40th round in 2019.
Nathan Burns (West Bend West), Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander has a 5.06 ERA in six games at Advanced Class A. He did not allow a run over 16⅓ innings at three stops last year after getting drafted out of Oregon State.
Jacob DeLabio (Kenosha Tremper), Houston Astros. Though he went undefeated, he's fared well in his brief time in the minors. The Carthage alumnus had only two scoreless appearances (4⅓ innings) in 2022 before landing on the injured list at Class A.
Theo Denlinger (Cuba City), Chicago White Sox. The 2021 draft pick out of Bradley has a 5.79 ERA in 11 games, with stops at Advanced Class A and Class AA already.
Jake Guenther (Oshkosh West), Tampa Bay Rays. The first baseman has a pair of homers and a .642 OPS (.189 batting average) in Advanced Class A. He was taken in the seventh round out of TCU in 2019.
Brandon Komar (Elkhorn), San Diego Padres. The alumnus of Madison College is 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA in 10 games at Advanced Class A.
Adam Lukas (Grafton), Kansas City Royals. He had a 3.38 ERA in six games last year at Advanced Class A but has opened the 2022 season on the injured list.
Dalton Roach (Eau Claire Memorial), St. Louis Cardinals. He has a 5.79 ERA in eight starts at Class AA with a 1.36 WHIP.
Trevor Tietz (Watertown), Milwaukee Brewers. In his second year with the organization, he has an 8.16 ERA in 14 games at Advanced Class A, but he does have 16 strikeouts in 14⅓ innings.
Ty Weber (Menomonee Falls), San Francisco Giants. The former Illinois right-hander has a 1-2 record with a 5.47 ERA in Advanced Class A over eight games.
Did we miss anyone? JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin players in Major League Baseball and the minors in 2022
