Poppen is the 220th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Duluth Huskie Sean Poppen, made his Major League debut for the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Poppen is the 220th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Poppen, who played collegiately at Harvard, played for the Duluth Huskies in 2014. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB draft.
In 13 games with the Huskies in 2014 he was 0-6 with a 7.05 ERA and recorded 20 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched.
Poppen began his minor league career in 2016 with the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie level Appalachian League. After eight games he was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Lo-A Midwest League. Between the two clubs he was a combined 3-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 12 appearances. He struck out 57 batters in 53.1 innings pitched while walking 24 and had a 1.294 WHIP.
In 2017 Poppen began the year with Cedar Rapids and then moved up to the Fort Myers Miracle of the Hi-A Florida State League. For the season he appeared as a starter in 25 games and was 9-4 with a 3.17 ERA. He struck out a career high 122 batters in 139 innings while walking only 25.
Poppen started the 2018 season in Fort Myers. After eight appearances he was promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the AA Southern League. With the two clubs he went 6-9 with a 3.45 ERA. He had a new career high of 123 strikeouts in 127.2 innings pitched. His WHIP was 1.230 and he walked 39 batters.
Prior to being called up by the Twins, Poppen had appeared in eight games with the Twins new affiliate in the Southern League the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He then moved on to the Rochester Red Wings of the AAA International League. He had a record of 6-3 with a 2.97 ERA. Poppen had 73 strikeouts in only 57.2 innings pitched and had walked 29.
In his Major League debut against the Boston Red Sox, Poppen entered the game in relief of Minnesota reliever Ryne Harper. He pitched 4.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and struck out two. Poppen was optioned back to Rochester after the game but he provided much needed innings after the Twins and Red Sox played 17 innings the night before.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Currently in its’ 26th season, the Northwoods 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), World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS) and MLB All-Stars 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 Apple App Store or on Google Play.
