A new Wisconsinite arrives for his major-league debut and checking in with other Wisconsin natives in pro baseball
Wisconsin knows the identity of its next major-leaguer with the arrival of Baltimore Orioles infielder Terrin Vavra, a 25-year-old Menomonie native promoted July 26 to an Orioles team that is now above .500 and competing for a playoff berth.
Vavra had a .425 on-base percentage and .869 OPS in the minors this season. He came to the Baltimore organization in 2020 in a trade that involved reliever Mychal Givens going to Colorado, which drafted Vavra.
He's the son of former Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers coach Joe Vavra and has two brothers (Tanner and Trey) who also played professionally. The left-handed batter can play second base or the outfield. He didn't play in Baltimore's 5-3 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday, a victory that gave the Orioles a 49-48 record, but figures to be the next in a long line of Wisconsinites who have made their major-league debut over the past few seasons.
Here's a look at other Wisconsinites in baseball.
In the big leagues
Alex Call (River Falls), Cleveland Guardians. The outfielder made his Major League debut July 11 against the team that drafted him, the White Sox, and he singled for his first big-league hit July 22, then scored his first run a day later. He's 1 for 9 so far with a start. Call, who was traded by Chicago to Cleveland in 2018, was hitting .283 at Class AAA before the promotion.
J.P. Feyereisen (River Falls), Tampa Bay Rays. The former Brewers reliever traded last year in the Willy Adames deal hasn't returned to the mound since June 2 — and hasn't allowed a run this year. In 22 games, he's unscored upon, but he's now on the 60-day injured list with a bone bruise in his shoulder.
Danny Jansen (Appleton West), Toronto Blue Jays. Jansen has been relegated to a backup catcher role with Alejandro Kirk enjoying a standout season, but Jansen has been great when called upon with a .913 OPS. He had two homers in the wild 28-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on July 22.
Gavin Lux (Kenosha Indian Trail), Los Angeles Dodgers. He's having a strong year, batting .295 with a .373 on-base percentage and .794 OPS while playing second base for the National League heavyweight. He also has five triples, tied for the league lead. Expect teams to ask for Lux as the trade deadline approaches (but don't expect the Dodgers to be eager to move him).
Owen Miller (Ozaukee), Cleveland Guardians. Playing all over the infield, but primarily first base, he has a .671 OPS and .303 on-base percentage with four homers.
Daulton Varsho (Marshfield), Arizona Diamondbacks. The UW-Milwaukee alumnus has a .718 OPS and 13 homers, handling the rare double duty of catcher and right field.
On 40-man rosters
Jarred Kelenic (Waukesha West), Seattle Mariners. Julio Rodríguez has become the breakout outfield prospect to know in Seattle and Kelenic was sent back to Class AAA this year after a slow start, but he's mashing at Tacoma, with a .924 OPS and 11 homers and 19 doubles in 50 games. It seems like a matter of time before he's back.
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.
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.
Top prospects
Alex Binelas (Oak Creek), Boston Red Sox. Traded from the Brewers organization in the Hunter Renfroe deal, he's now the No. 21 prospect in the Red Sox organization. The third baseman posted an .850 OPS in 216 at-bats at advanced Class A and has scuffled out of the gate at Class AA, batting .149 with a .651 OPS in 22 games.
Tanner Kolhhepp (Eau Claire Memorial), Detroit Tigers. The fifth-round pick in 2021 is the organization's No. 21 prospect, though he had Tommy John surgery earlier this year and hasn't pitched.
Alec Marsh (Milwaukee Reagan), Kansas City Royals. The No. 10 prospect in the Royals organization was the 70th overall pick in 2019. In 2022, he has a 7.70 ERA in 17 starts at Class AA, but he does have a whopping 105 strikeouts in 73⅔ innings. He was selected to the Futures Game during all-star weekend but did not appear.
Noah Miller (Ozaukee), Minnesota Twins. Owen's brother and the No. 36 pick in 2021, the shortstop has a .236 average and .669 OPS with two home runs and a .363 on-base percentage at Class A. He's ranked No. 6 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 .706 OPS and .264 batting average at advanced Class A. He's on the seven-day injured list.
Competing at 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 had success at Nashville, with a 3.43 ERA, 9-2 record and 1.23 WHIP in 94⅓ innings of work.
Brian Keller (Germantown), Boston Red Sox. The former Yankees farmhand has been working his way through the minors since 2016, and he has a 2-3 record with a 3.59 ERA in 19 games this season after posting a 2.77 mark in 26 games last year. Keller attended UW-Milwaukee.
Taylor Kohlwey (Holmen), San Diego Padres. The outfielder out of UW-La Crosse has been raking, with a .334 batting average and .937 OPS, plus a .430 on-base percentage and nine homers in 76 games.
Austin Schulfer (Stevens Point), Minnesota Twins. Another UWM alumnus, the 26-year-old is having a huge year, first at Class AA where he posted a 0.39 ERA in 15 games with 30 strikeouts and four walks in 23 innings. Upon promotion, he has a 3-0 record, 2.65 ERA and 17 strikeouts with four walks in 17 innings over 14 games. He has eight saves between the two locations.
Keep an eye on
Lake Bachar (UW-Whitewater), San Diego Padres. The Illinois native returned from a major injury and pitched in a combined no-hitter in his first game back, though he now has a 6.98 ERA in seven starts at Class AA.
Nathan Burns (West Bend West), Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander has a 3.24 ERA in 18 games at Advanced Class A. He did not allow a run over 16⅓ innings at three stops last year after being drafted out of Oregon State.
Jeren Kendall (Holmen), Los Angeles Dodgers. The outfielder out of Vanderbilt was the Dodgers' first-round pick (23rd overall) in 2017. He's batting .213 with a .705 OPS in 55 games at Class AA this year.
Eric Torres (Sussex Hamilton), Los Angeles Angels. The 2021 draft pick (14th round) has a superb 1.67 ERA in 32⅓ innings and 10 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
Cade Bunnell (Stoughton), Atlanta Braves. The Indiana alumnus has a .189 batting average and .681 OPS with seven homers going back and forth between advanced Class A and Class AA. But at the higher level, he's 14 for 38 with a 1.168 OPS. The second baseman was taken in the 40th round in 2019.
Jacob DeLabio (Kenosha Tremper), Houston Astros. The Carthage alumnus has a 2.93 ERA in 12 games this season, appearing mostly at Class A.
Theo Denlinger (Cuba City), Chicago White Sox. The 2021 draft pick out of Bradley has a 4.55 ERA in 25 games, with stops at advanced Class A and Class AA.
Jake Guenther (Oshkosh West), Tampa Bay Rays. The first baseman has four homers and a .612 OPS (.181 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 1-5 over two stops this year with a 5.10 ERA in 22 games (seven starts). He has a 7.22 ERA in seven starts at Class AA.
Justin Lavey (Kenosha Tremper), Seattle Mariners. The second baseman has a .709 OPS and .260 average at advanced Class A, with three homers in 63 games.
Matt Osterberg (Coleman), Philadelphia Phillies. The left-handed pitcher has a 4.05 ERA in 62⅔ innings with a 1.61 WHIP at Class A (11 starts, 16 appearances).
Dalton Roach (Eau Claire Memorial), St. Louis Cardinals. He has a 4.57 ERA in 24 games at Class AA with a 1.20 WHIP.
Trevor Schwecke (Marshfield), Toronto Blue Jays. The former standout infielder at UW-Milwaukee has a .624 OPS since his promotion to Class AA (23 games); he posted a .699 mark at advanced Class A in 43 games.
Trevor Tietz (Watertown), Milwaukee Brewers. In his second year with the organization, he has a 6.23 ERA in 28 games at advanced Class A and rookie ball.
Ty Weber (Menomonee Falls), San Francisco Giants. The former Illinois right-hander has a 4-3 record with a 4.11 ERA in 22 games at three stops this year. He made his Class AAA debut earlier this year, allowing two unearned runs on one hit in two innings and getting the win, and he's currently at Class AA.
Fighting through injury
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, but he's been on the injured list and hasn't played since May.
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.
Adam Lukas (Grafton), Kansas City Royals. He had a 3.38 ERA in six games last year at advanced Class A but will not pitch this season due to injury.
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 spent 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, 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.
From the draft
Max Wagner (Green Bay Preble), Baltimore Orioles. Taken with the 42nd pick, the ACC player of the year at Clemson signed with Baltimore on July 26.
Other selections: Connor Prielipp (Tomah), Minnesota Twins, 48th overall; Drake Baldwin (Madison West), Atlanta Braves, 96th; Alan Roden (Middleton), Toronto Blue Jays, 98th; A.J. Blubaugh (UW-Milwaukee), Houston Astros, 223rd; Griffin Doersching (Greendale), San Diego Padres, 240th; Christian Oppor (Columbus), Oakland Athletics, 334th; Gavin Kilen (Milton), Boston Red Sox, 399th.
CORRECTION: Alex Call's information was updated from the original version of this story.
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Checking in with Wisconsin players in major leagues and minors
