Renda is the 156th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former St. Cloud River Bat, Tony Renda, made his Major League debut for the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, August 2, 2016. Renda is the 156th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Renda, who played collegiately at UC Berkeley, played for the St. Cloud River Bats in 2009. He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 2nd round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
In 2009 with the River Bats, Renda hit .283 with two home runs, 11 doubles and three triples over 45 games. He also stole seven bases and drove in 24 runs.
Renda started his Minor League career in 2012 with the Auburn Doubledays of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. Over 71 games he hit .264 with nine doubles and 32 RBI to go along with 15 stolen bases.
Renda moved up to the Lo-A Hagerstown Suns in the South Atlantic League for the 2013 season. With the Suns he hit .294 with three home runs, 43 doubles and 51 RBI. He also continued to excel on the base paths with 30 stolen bases in 36 attempts.
Another promotion to start the 2014 season saw Renda in the Hi-A Carolina League with the Potomac Nationals. For the season, Renda hit .307 with 21 doubles, four triples and 47 RBI to go along with 19 stolen bases.
Renda began the 2015 season with the Harrisburg Senators of the AA Eastern League. After 54 games the Nationals traded Renda to the New York Yankees in exchange for David Carpenter. The Yankees then assigned Renda to the Trenton Thunder in the Eastern League. Renda would go on to play in 73 games with Trenton. Between the two teams he hit a combined .269 with 30 doubles and 44 RBI. He also stole 23 bases in 29 attempts.
On December 28, 2015, the Yankees traded Renda, Caleb Cotham, Eric Jagielo, and Rookie Davis to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Aroldis Chapman.
Prior to being called up by the Reds, Renda had started the season with Pensacola in the AA Southern League. After 68 games he was promoted to AAA with the Louisville Bats of the International League. Between the two clubs he hit a combined .315 with 27 doubles, four triples and three home runs.
In his Major League debut against the St. Louis Cardinals, Renda entered as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Blake Wood in the bottom of the 8th inning. On the second pitch, Renda put down a sacrifice bunt but a throwing error by first baseman Matt Adams allowed Renda to reach first base. Coincidentally the game would end in the bottom of the 9th with a walk-off three-run home run from former Green Bay Bullfrog Scott Schebler.
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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.
