12 Former Tar Heels Named To MLB Opening Day Rosters
July 22, 2020 | Baseball
Author of 'This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History', Tom Jensen, looks into each player's journey heading into the 2020 season below.
The players that have gone from Chapel Hill to the MLB are respected by their teammates and opponents and that's reflected in things like leadership positions in the MLBPA and who teams want influencing their younger players.Â
Something that's also true of many of the Diamond Heel alumni in the majors is that their paths to success have not been easy, but they've kept pushing forward and been resilient, allowing them to reach heights that might not have been expected of them.
It's safe to say their time in Chapel Hill playing for Coach Fox and his staff helped these players build the character that's made them so successful in the majors. Below are your 2020 MLB Opening Day Diamond Heels and their stories.
Daniel Bard is one of the most remarkable stories in all of baseball this year. He made it to the majors with the Boston Red Sox in 2009 and quickly became a shutdown reliever, pitching to a 1.93 ERA over 73 appearances in 2010.
Later in his career though he abruptly lost his control. In 13 innings in the Rangers, Cardinals, and Mets organizations between 2014 and 2017 he walked 46, hit 16 batters, and threw 13 wild pitches across 13 innings of work. He announced his retirement and became a skills coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, where his work drew rave reviews.Â
When he'd play catch with his charges last summer, they commented on how well he was throwing the ball. So this offseason, he decided to give it one last shot. The Colorado Rockies signed him and brought him to Spring Training and he made the team. Remarkably, seven years after his last big league appearance his hard work and mental strength has brought him back to the show.
Andrew Miller's 15th MLB season will be his second with the St. Louis Cardinals, the seventh team he has played for in his career. Miller is one of the most well respected players in the game by his peers and serves on the executive committee of the Players Association, a role that kept him busy over the last four months.
Miller will be used as a set-up guy, a role he has settled into after earlier phases as a starter and a closer in his long and varied career. One thing he's done in every single one of those roles is strike a lot of guys out- he has 923 in 780 career innings and that's not slowing down with age, as he struckout 70 guys in 54.2 innings last year. He was an All-Star with the Yankees in 2016 and the Indians in 2017 and won the ALCS MVP in 2016.
Jacob Stallings predicts as the starting catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020. Stallings first made it to the majors in 2016 but shuttled back and forth between Pittsburgh and AAA Indianapolis for four seasons, appearing in a total of just 24 big league games between 2016 and 2018.
Last year was a turning point, though. After being promoted in late May, he stuck in the majors for the rest of the season and quickly became a favorite with the Pirates' pitching staff. A majority of the starters requested Stallings as the catcher for their starts both because of his defensive ability and also his skill at calling a game. His peers chose him as their union representative without yet having played a full big league season, a testament to his leadership and the regard he's held in.
On top of all that he had a perfectly respectable OPS of .707 hitting in his first big chunk of playing time. The Pirates let their previous starting catcher go during the offseason and handed the job over to Stallings.Â
Colin Moran will begin his third season as the starting 3B for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The new designated hitter National League this year may work to his benefit. The Pirates slotted him in there for the first time against another team Monday in Cleveland and he had two hits, including a home run. That continued a strong spring in which he has hit .297 with an OPS of .910.
Moran had a good year in 2019 in his second season as a big league starter, hitting .277 while driving in 80 runs with 30 doubles and 13 home runs. In an ironic twist though the highlight of his season may have been an at bat where he struck out- at the hands of his brother Brian, a fellow Diamond Heels alum who was making his major league debut.
Kyle Seager will begin his 10th season in the big leagues, all spent with the Seattle Mariners, who he will continue to be the starting 3B for.
Seager has been a consistent strong contributor during his career- last year he became the first player in Mariners history to hit at least 20 home runs in 8 consecutive seasons, something even Ken Griffey Jr didn't do. He has over 1,200 career hits and is likely to get his 200th home run this season, as he starts the year at 198. He was an All Star in 2014.
Zac Gallen started last season in AAA. He'll start this season as the No. 3 starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was called up by the Miami Marlins part way through last year and was immediately so impressive that the Diamondbacks traded their No. 1 rated prospect to acquire Gallen for the stretch run in their effort to make the playoffs.
Gallen had a 2.81 ERA over 15 starts in his first big league season and struck out 96 guys in 80 innings while allowing only 62 hits. He seems like a top candidate to be the next Diamond Heel alum to be an MLB All-Star if he can build on his strong performance in his debut year.
Trent Thornton will start his second big league season in the starting rotation for the Toronto Blue Jays. He will look to build on a rookie season where he was the team's most durable contributor, leading the team with 154 innings pitched, 30 more than his next closest teammate. He struck out 149 batters, 50 more than any other Blue Jays pitcher.
Thornton's goal for his second year as a big league starter is to avoid overthrowing and get more outs in one or two pitches rather than going deep into counts so that he can be more efficient and get further into games. Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker has said in interviews that he thinks Thornton is poised for a breakout this year.
Brian Goodwin is slated to be the starting right fielder for the Los Angeles Angels, joining a first rate outfield alongside super stars Mike Trout and Justin Upton. Goodwin showed he belonged in that company his first season for the Angels. He hit to an OPS of .796 and out of his 108 hits 49 went for extra bases, including 29 doubles and 17 home runs.
The Angels are Goodwin's third big league stop after coming up with the Nationals in 2016 and also spending some time with the Royals before heading to Los Angeles. This season he will look to build on the best year of his career to date.
Chris Iannetta will start his 15th big league season with his 5th team, serving as a backup catcher for the New York Yankees. He previously played for the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He has close to 1,000 hits in his long and productive career, including 181 doubles and 141 home runs.
Iannetta may not receive a ton of playing time this season, with two other catchers ahead of him on the depth chart. But the Yankees saw value in keeping Iannetta on the roster for his veteran presence and leadership abilities. He's the longest tenured major league player on the team's roster and with the team viewed as one of the best in the game this year, he could have a shot at closing out his career with a World Series ring.
Trevor Kelley will spend his first MLB Opening Day in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, a year after making his big league debut in a mid season call up for the Boston Red Sox. Kelley is still just eight years removed from throwing 1.2 innings with a 16.20 ERA his freshman year in Chapel Hill. He's just five years removed from getting drafted in the 36th round even after becoming a star as his Tar Heel career progressed, viewed as organizational depth rather than a future big leaguer. Even this spring he wasn't seen as a strong candidate for the Phillies' roster.
But Kelley just did what he's done at every step along the way- went out and pitched phenomenally. In six Spring Training appearances he struck out nine and allowed only two hits over 6.1 scoreless innings of work. He's never had anything given to him in his career- but once again hard work has earned him a shot that didn't initially appear to be in the cards.
There's a fun Tar Heel baseball family story in Kelley's preparations for the season. Like all players he had to pass a COVID test before he could go to Citizens Bank Ballpark, and he needed somewhere to work out before he got the all clear. Fortunately his Tar Heel teammate, former starting 2B Mike Zolk, is a successful high school coach at Neumann-Goretti in South Philadelphia. So Kelley was able to stay sharp working out at his field, another example of how the bonds formed in our program last forever.
Kelly texted the UNC coaching staff the night of July 23rd with excitement, stating "Hey Coaches! I just wanted to let you know that IÂ made the opening day roster and that Jamie and I would not be where we are without you guys and everything you all have done for our family." This sentiment is a testament to the culture built in the Carolina Baseball program.
Mike Morin will start his 7th big league season in the bullpen for the Milwaukee Brewers. This is his 6th big league team, having previously pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, and Minnesota Twins.Â
Last year was a great bounce back season for Morin. From 2014-2016 he appeared in 60, 47, and 60 big league games respectively. In 2017 and 2018 he mostly pitched in AAA and battled some injuries. But in 2019 he worked his way back to a 52 appearance season in the majors and was especially helpful to the Twins on their way to an AL Central crown, posting a 3.18 ERA in 23 appearances and finishing 10 games.Â
Morin went to Summer Camp on the bubble for the Brewers' roster. But after posting a 2.84 ERA in 6 appearances and allowing less than one base runner an inning he made the cut and will again have a chance to contribute to a playoff contending team.
Brian Moran will be on an Opening Day roster for the first time this season, serving as a left handed reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his major league debut with the Miami Marlins last fall after a 10 year baseball odyssey that took him from the Mariners organization to the Angels organization back to the Mariners organization to the Indians organization to independent ball to the Braves organization to the Orioles organization back to independent ball to the Dodgers organization to the Rockies organization to the Marlins organization.Â
A lesser person would have given up somewhere along that path but instead he went to AAA New Orleans last year, dominated, got called up, struck out his younger brother in his big league debut and had a great first month in the big leagues striking out 10 in 6.1 innings across 10 appearances, including striking out Bryce Harper on his final batter of the season.
It wouldn't have been Brian Moran's baseball career if he stayed in one place though, and he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays this offseason. He'd actually spent about 10 minutes as a Blue Jay in 2013 when they picked him in the Rule V Draft before trading him to the Angels. There was skepticism that Moran would be able to return to the majors with baseball's new rule that pitchers must face 3 batters, which is seen as making it harder for left handed relievers to find work. Brian's always been pretty good against righties and lefties just the same though and after striking out 7 in 5 innings this spring while allowing only 4 hits, he's earned the right at the age of 31 to start the season in the show.
Former Diamond Heels named to the 60-man Player Pool
Zac Gallen- ARI
Trent Thornton – TOR
Mike Morin – MIL
Andrew Miller- STL
Tim Federowicz – TEX
Colin Moran – PIT
Jacob Stallings – PIT
Kyle Seager - SEA
Skye Bolt – OAK
Trevor Kelley - PIL
J.B. Bukauskas - ARZ