Roa is the 408th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former La Crosse Logger Christian Roa made his Major League debut on Saturday, September 6, 2025. Roa is the 408th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level. He is also the 36th former player to debut this season which is a Northwoods League record.
Roa, who played collegiately at Texas A&M University, played for the Loggers in 2018. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 MLB draft by the Cincinnati Reds.
In 2018 with the Loggers, Roa appeared in three games and was 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA. He also struck out 20 batters in 16.2 innings.
Roa started his professional career in 2021 with the Reds rookie level team in the Arizona Complex League. After two games he moved to the Daytona Tortugas of the Low-A Southeast League. He would pitch in five games in Daytona before another promotion, to finish the season, to the Dayton Dragons of the High-A Central League. For the year, he pitched in a combined 15 games and was 4-3 with a 3.53 ERA. He had 67 strikeouts in 58.2 innings while walking 26.
In 2022, Roa started the season with Dayton and then moved up to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Double-A Southern League. Between the two clubs he pitched in 20 games and was 6-3 with a 3.56 ERA and had 102 strikeouts in 91.0 innings.
Roa began the 2023 season in Chattanooga and after 13 games was promoted to the Louisville Bats of the Triple-A International League. Over 28 games he struck out 170 batters in 120.1 innings and won five games.
In 2024, Roa was again in Louisville. He pitched in 23 games and had 47 strikeouts in 48.2 innings.
Following the 2024 season, the Marlins claimed Roa off waivers from the Reds.
Prior to his call-up to the Marlins, Roa had been with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp of the Triple-A International League. In 47 games he was 9-2 with a 2.83 ERA. He had 61 strikeouts in 57.1 innings and had two saves. In his Major League debut against the Philadelphia Philles, Roa entered the game in relief and pitched 2.0 innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out three.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 25 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 400 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com) and ESPN+.