Stevenson is the 181st former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Lakeshore Chinooks outfielder, Andrew Stevenson, made his Major League debut for the Washington Nationals on Sunday, July 23, 2017. Stevenson is the 181st former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Stevenson, who played collegiately at LSU, played for the Lakeshore Chinooks in 2013. He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 2nd round of the 2015 MLB Draft.
In 2013 with the Chinooks, Stevenson played in 36 games and hit .345 with two home runs, 14 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Stevenson started his Minor League career in 2015 with the Nationals Rookie Level team in the Gulf Coast League. After two games, he was promoted to the Auburn Doubledays of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. He would play in 18 games in Auburn before another promotion, to end the season, to the Hagerstown Suns of the Lo-A South Atlantic League. For the season, he hit a combined .308 in 55 games and had four doubles, four triples and one home run. He also stole 23 bases and drove in 25 runs.
Stevenson began the 2016 season with the Potomac Nationals of the Hi-A Carolina League. After 68 games in Potomac he was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the AA Eastern League. Between the two clubs he played in 133 games and hit a combined .276 with 23 doubles, 10 triples and three home runs. He also stole a career high 39 bases.
Prior to his call-up to Washington, Stevenson had played in 93 games between AA and AAA. He began the year in Harrisburg and then was sent to the Syracuse Chiefs of the AAA International League. Between the two teams he was hitting .268 with 12 doubles, five triples and 36 RBI. He also had 10 stolen bases and had scored 51 runs.
In his Major League debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Stevenson entered the game in the 6th inning as a pinch-hitter for Joe Blanton. Facing Diamondbacks reliever T.J. McFarland, he would ground into a force out to the shortstop. Stevenson then moved to left field in the bottom of the inning and finished the game 0 for 2.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 180 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.