Baumann is the 154th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former St. Cloud River Bat, Buddy Baumann, made his Major League debut for the San Diego Padres on Saturday, July 16, 2016. Baumann is the 154th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Baumann, who played collegiately at Missouri State, played for the St. Cloud River Bats in 2007. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 7th round of the 2009 MLB Draft.
In 2009 with the River Bats, Baumann was 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA in 11 games. He also struck out 61 batters in 62 innings pitched.
Baumann started his Minor League career in 2009 with the Burlington Royals in the Rookie Appalachian League. He went 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA over three games and struck out five batters in 5.0 innings pitched.
The 2010 season saw Baumann in the Hi-A Carolina League with the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Over 31 games he went 4-2 with a 2.24 ERA to go along with 113 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched.
Baumann spent the 2011 season with two teams. He began the year with the Royals Rookie level team in the Arizona League and then was promoted, after two games, to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in the AA Texas League. Between the two clubs he went a combined 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA while continuing his high strikeout rate with 77 in 76.0 innings pitched.
Baumann spent the entire 2012 season back in Northwest Arkansas where he went 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA in 32 games. He also struck out 58 batters in 59 innings pitched.
He started the 2013 season again in Northwest Arkansas before a promotion to the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers of the Pacific Coast League. Between the two teams he was 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched.
Baumann was in Omaha again for the 2014 season and appeared in 40 games with a 2-4 record, 3.20 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched.
Once again Baumann was with the Storm Chasers in 2015 and went 3-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 34 appearances. He also upped his strikeout rate with 84 in 77 innings pitched
Baumann signed with San Diego before the 2016 season and before his call up to the Padres, he was 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA over 13 appearances with the El Paso Chihuahuas of the AAA Pacific Coast League.
In his Major League debut against the San Francisco Giants, Baumann entered in relief of Padres starter Luis Perdomo with two outs in the bottom of the 5th inning to face former Mankato MoonDog Brandon Crawford. On his first pitch Crawford grounded out to first base to end the inning. Baumann would not return for the 6th inning.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 150 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.