Bader is the 182nd former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Lakeshore Chinooks outfielder, Harrison Bader, made his Major League debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Bader is the 182nd former Northwoods League player and the third straight Chinook to reach the Major League level.
Bader, who played collegiately at Florida, played for the Lakeshore Chinooks in 2013. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 2015 MLB Draft.
In 2013 with the Chinooks, Bader played in 20 games and hit .290 with six doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and six stolen bases.
Bader started his Minor League career in 2015 with the State College Spikes of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. After seven games, he was promoted to the Peoria Chiefs of the Lo-A Midwest League. Between the two teams he hit a combined .311 with 11 home runs, 13 doubles and two triples. He also stole 17 bases and drove in 32 runs.
Bader began the 2016 season with the Springfield Cardinals of the AA Texas League. After 82 games in Springfield he was promoted to the Memphis Redbirds of the AAA Pacific Coast League. For the season, he played in 131 games and hit a combined .267 with 19 doubles, five triples and had career highs in home runs with 19 and runs scored with 70.
Prior to his call-up to St. Louis, Bader had played in 97 games for Memphis. For the season, he was hitting .297 with 19 home runs, 18 doubles and 48 RBI. He also had nine stolen bases and had scored 62 runs.
In his Major League debut against the Colorado Rockies, Bader started the game in center field. After three plate appearances without a hit he would come to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning as the leadoff hitter. Facing Rockies reliever Jake McGee, Bader doubled to left field. The next batter would be former Brainerd Lakes Area Lunker Greg Garcia. Garcia bunted Bader over to third and the next batter, Jedd Gyorko, would hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Bader for the winning run. Another former Northwoods League player, Paul DeJong, went 2 for 4 on the night for the Cardinals with his 13th home run of the season.
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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.