Waguespack is the 217th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Battle Creek Bomber Jacob Waguespack, made his Major League debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, May 27, 2019. Waguespack is the 217th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Waguespack, who played collegiately at the University of Mississippi, played for the Battle Creek Bombers in 2014. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent after his junior season in 2015.
In 11 games with the Bombers in 2014 he was 1-3 with a 1.80 ERA and recorded 50 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched. He was also a mid-season All-Star and participated in the Big League Dreams Showcase.
Waguespack began his minor league career in 2015 with the Phillies Rookie level team in the Gulf Coast League. After 15 games he was promoted to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. Over 19 games he was a combined 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA. He struck out 32 batters in 27 innings pitched while saving one game and walking nine.
In 2016 Waguespack spent the entire season in the Lo-A South Atlantic League with the Lakewood BlueClaws. He appeared in 43 games and was 4-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 71.2 innings pitched. He struck out 72 batters, saved six games and walked 29.
In 2017 Waguespack moved up to the Clearwater Threshers of the H-A Florida State League. He played in 24 games in Clearwater before finishing the season with seven appearances with the Reading Fightin Phils of the AA Eastern League. For the season he was 9-7 with a 3.42 ERA. He started 16 games and struck out 108 batters in 105.1 innings.
Waguespack began the 2018 season in Reading and then was promoted to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs of the AAA International League. In July Waguespack was traded from the Phillies to the Blue Jays in exchange for Aaron Loup. Waguespack then would finish out the season with the Buffalo Bisons of the AAA International League. For the season he went 6-10 with a 4.80 ERA. He struck out 112 batters in 122 innings and saved a game.
Prior to being called up by the Blue Jays, Waguespack had appeared in nine games in Buffalo and was 2-6 with a 5.86 ERA. He had 44 strikeouts in 43 innings.
In his Major League debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, Waguespack entered the game in relief of Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez. He pitched 4.0 innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out seven.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). 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