Raley is the 252nd former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Lakeshore Chinook Luke Raley, made his Major League debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, April 9, 2021. Raley is the 252nd former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Raley, who played collegiately at Lake Erie College, played for the Lakeshore Chinooks in 2015. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 7th round of the 2016 MLB draft.
In 2015 with the Chinooks, Raley played in 67 games and hit .314 with 14 home runs, five triples and 13 doubles. He drove in 55 runs and scored 43 times.
Raley began his professional career in 2016 with the Dodgers rookie level team in the Arizona League. After five games he was promoted to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League. He would play in five games in Ogden before another promotion to end the season to the Great Lakes Loons of the Lo-A Midwest League. For the season he hit a combined .288 with four home runs, six triples and 14 doubles. He scored 34 times and drove in 24 while also stealing four bases.
Raley was promoted again for the 2017 season to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Hi-A California League. He played in 123 games for the Quakes and hit .295 with 14 home runs, 21 doubles and 62 runs driven in. He stole nine bases and scored 102 times.
In 2018 Raley began the year with the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Eastern League. On July 31, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Following the trade, he was sent to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the AA Eastern League. Between the two clubs he hit a combined .275 with 20 home runs, 19 doubles and eight triples.
Raley injured his ankle to start the 2019 season and spent most of the season on the injured list. When he was activated, he began his season with the Twins rookie level team in the Gulf Coast League. After five games he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the AAA International League. In 38 games he hit .310 with 23 RBI and 29 runs scored. He had eight home runs and stole four bases.
In February of 2020, the Minnesota Twins traded Brusdar Graterol, Raley and Future Considerations to the Dodgers for Kenta Maeda, Jair Camargo and cash.
Raley began the 2021 season at the Dodgers alternate training site. In his Major League debut against the Washington Nationals, Raley entered the game in the 8th inning as a defensive substitution in right field. In his only at-bat of the game, facing former Mankato MoonDog Sam Clay, he grounded out to the shortstop Trea Turner for the first out of the inning.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed 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 250 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.
