Seventeen former Valley Baseball League players are on Major League rosters to begin the 2017 season.
There are 14 former VBL players on opening day rosters, along with DL stints for Jason Kipnis (Cleveland Indians), Tyler Thornburg (Boston Red Sox) and Mac Williamson (San Francisco Giants).
Five of them were not on Opening Day rosters in 2016, all of whom made their MLB debuts during the 2016 season- the Colorado Rockies’ Stephen Cardullo, the Houston Astros’ Chris Devenski, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Chad Kuhl, San Diego Padres third baseman Ryan Schimpf and Boston Red Sox reliever Robby Scott.
The New Market Rebels (Brett Gardner, Kuhl, Brad Ziegler), Covington Lumberjacks (Cardullo, Kipnis, Scott) and Luray Wranglers (Yonder Alonso, Daniel Murphy, Schimpf) lead the way with three major league alums each.
One of last year’s MLB players not on the 2017 list is New Market and University of Virginia alum Javier Lopez, who retired after 14 seasons and four World Series rings.
Yonder Alonso, Oakland Athletics (Luray Wranglers)
Stephen Cardullo, Colorado Rockies (Covington Lumberjacks)
Chris Devenski, Houston Astros (Woodstock River Bandits)
Josh Edgin, New York Mets (Winchester Royals)
Brett Gardner, New York Yankees (New Market Rebels)
Will Harris, Houston Astros (Staunton Braves)
Jon Jay, Chicago Cubs (Staunton Braves)
*Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians (Covington Lumberjacks)
Chad Kuhl, Pittsburgh Pirates (New Market Rebels)
Tommy La Stella, Chicago Cubs (Haymarket Senators)
Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals (Luray Wranglers)
Cliff Pennington, Los Angeles Angels (Harrisonburg Turks)
Ryan Schimpf, San Diego Padres (Luray Wranglers)
Robby Scott, Boston Red Sox (Covington Lumberjacks)
*Tyler Thornburg, Boston Red Sox (Winchester Royals)
*Mac Williamson, San Francisco Giants (Harrisonburg Turks)
Brad Ziegler, Miami Marlins (New Market Rebels)
* Disabled List
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Chris Graham
