In the Opening Day Rosters for the 2023 Major League Baseball Season, Eight Former Tigers Appear
Infielder DJ LeMahieu is currently playing for the Yankees. Infielder Alex Bregman is currently playing for the Astros. Pitcher Aaron Nola is currently playing for the Phillies. Pitcher Kevin Gausman is currently playing for the Blue Jays. Catcher Austin Nola is currently playing for the Padres. Outfielder Jake Fraley is currently playing for the Reds. Pitcher Alex Lange is currently playing for the Tigers (Rangers).
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Eight former LSU baseball players are now listed on active rosters for teams in Major League Baseball as the 2023 season of MLB gets underway on Thursday.
Infielder DJ LeMahieu currently plays for the New York Yankees. Infielder Alex Bregman currently plays for the Houston Astros. Pitcher Aaron Nola currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. Pitcher Kevin Gausman currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Catcher Austin Nola currently plays for the San Diego Padres. Outfielder Jake Fraley currently plays for the Cincinnati Reds. Pitcher Alex Lange currently plays for the Detroit Tigers. Infielder Josh Smith currently plays for (Rangers).
LeMahieu, a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is about to begin his 13th season in the Major League Baseball (MLB) and his fifth with the New York Yankees. He is a three-time All-Star in the MLB and has won batting titles in both the American League and the National League with the Yankees and the Colorado Rockies, respectively.
LeMahieu, who has won four Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards, was a player for LSU in 2008 and 2009 before being taken in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He signed with the Cubs after being drafted and went on to become a four-time Gold Glove winner. With the LSU team that won the College World Series in 2009, LeMahieu was the starting second baseman.
Bregman, who is starting his ninth season with the Astros, played college baseball at LSU from 2013 through 2015 and guided the Tigers to two visits in the College World Series during his time there. Bregman was selected by the Astros with the second overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft in 2015. While attending LSU, he was chosen to the first team all-American two times, and in 2013, he was given the Brooks Wallace Award as the finest shortstop in the country.
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Bregman is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He made his debut in the Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros in July of 2016, and since then, he has served as the starting third baseman for the Astros, helping them win the World Series in 2017 and 2022. After hitting the game-winning home run for the American League in the 2018 All-Star Game, he was awarded the Most Valuable Player award. He also received the 2019 Silver Slugger Award, which is given to the player in the American League who is considered to be the best offensive player at third base.
Aaron Nola, a native of Baton Rouge, is entering his ninth season as a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was an important contributor to the Phillies' run to win the National League pennant in 2022. The Phillies chose him early in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft, and he was selected as an All-Star for the National League in 2018. After compiling a record of 17-6 with a 2.37 earned run average, he came in third place in the vote for the 2018 National League Cy Young Award.
At LSU, Aaron Nola was named to the first team of All-America and the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year on two separate occasions. Also, he was selected as the National Collegiate Pitcher of the Year in 2014.
Gausman, who pitched for LSU in 2011 and 2012, is starting his 11th season in the Major League Baseball and his second season with the Toronto Blue Jays. As a member of the San Francisco Giants, he earned a spot on the National League All-Star team in 2021 after compiling a record of 14-6 with a 2.81 earned run average and 227 strikeouts in 192 innings pitched.
The baseball player who hails from Centennial, Colorado, was taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft after earning a spot on the first team of All-America while playing for LSU in 2012.
Austin Nola, who was born in Baton Rouge and is Aaron's elder brother, made his debut in the Major League Baseball in 2019 with the Seattle Mariners. In 79 games, he hit 10 home runs and drove in 31 runs while playing for the Mariners. Since being traded to the Padres in August of 2020, he has been San Diego's starting catcher for both of the Padres' trips in the MLB playoffs in 2020 and 2022. His contributions have been important in each of those years.
Austin Nola was LSU's starting shortstop for four seasons (2009-12), during which time the school won the 2009 College World Series. Nola was also a key contributor to the Tigers' run to the championship.
After spending the previous three years with the Seattle Mariners, Fraley is starting his fifth season in the Major Leagues and his second with the Cincinnati Reds. After being selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the second round of the 2016 draft, he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners in November 2018 and was promoted to the Big League roster for the first time in August 2019.
Fraley, who hails from Middletown, Delaware, was recognized as the player who best embodies the spirit of the LSU Baseball program and was awarded the 2016 Skip Bertman Award. In 2015, Fraley was an integral part of LSU's run to the Southeastern Conference title and a spot in the College World Series.
The month of April 2021 was Lange's first game in the Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. Lange is a native of Lee's Summit, Missouri. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 2017 draft. He concluded his three-year career at LSU with a record of 30-9, becoming the 10th LSU pitcher to earn 30 wins.
During his time at LSU, Lange was recognized as a member of the first team of All-America and All-SEC. He finished his career with a total of 406 strikeouts, which is the second-highest total in school history.
In May of 2022, the Rangers added Smith, a native of Baton Rouge, to their roster in the Major League Baseball. After being selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, he was then sent to the Texas Rangers by the Yankees in July of 2021.
Smith attended LSU from 2017 to 2019 and was the starting shortstop for the Tigers in 2019 after missing the most of the 2018 season due to a stress response in his spine. Smith played at LSU from 2017 until 2019. As a result of his play at third base for the LSU team that finished in second place in the 2017 Collegiate World Series, he was named to the Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC teams.
LSU's best hitter in 2019 was Smith, a finance student who had previously been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. Smith hit.346 (89-for-257) with 17 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 41 RBI, 72 runs, and 20 steals in 24 attempts. He also led the team in stolen bases with 20.
In 29 of the last 32 seasons, LSU has had at least one former player make his debut in the Major League Baseball (MLB). Over the long and famous history of the Tigers baseball franchise, 83 players who went on to play in the Big Leagues came through the organization.