Vesia is the 236th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Mankato MoonDog Alex Vesia, made his Major League debut for the Miami Marlins on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Vesia is the 235th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Vesia, who played collegiately at California State University, East Bay, played for the Mankato MoonDogs in 2016. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB draft.
In 2016 with the MoonDogs, Vesia appeared in two games and was 1-0 with a .69 ERA. He struck out 13 batters in 13 innings pitched while walking four.
Vesia began his professional career in 2018 with the Marlins Rookie Level team in the Gulf Coast League. He appeared in four games before moving up to the Batavia Muckdogs of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. Over 14 appearances for the season he was 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA. He struck out 38 batters in 33.1 innings pitched and had a 1.140 WHIP.
In 2019 Vesia began the year with the Clinton LumberKings of the Lo-A Midwest League. After 19 games he was promoted to the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Hi-A Florida State League. He would pitch in 10 games for Jupiter before another promotion to end the season to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp of the AA Southern League. For the year he was 7-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 38 games. He struck out a career high 100 batters in 66.2 innings.
Vesia was assigned to the Marlins Alternate Training Site for the 2020 season and then was called up to the Major League roster on July 23. In his Major League debut against the Phillies, Vesia entered the game in relief in the sixth inning. He allowed two runs on one hit while striking out one in .2 innings of work.
###
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 27th 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 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). 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.