Lavastida is the 275th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Wisconsin Woodchuck Bryan Lavastida, made his Major League debut for the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday, April 10, 2022. Lavastida is the 275th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Lavastida, who played collegiately at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, played for the Wisconsin Woodchucks in 2018. He was drafted in the 15th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Indians.
In 2018 with the Woodchucks, Lavastida played in eight games and hit .300 with three doubles, three runs scored and five stolen bases. He drove in one and walked five times in 35 plate appearances.
Lavastida began his professional career in 2019 with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Short-Season A New York Penn League. After 58 games he was promoted to the Lake County Captains of the Lo-A Midwest League. He appeared in one game with Lake County and for the season hit a combined .335 with two home runs, three triples, and 19 doubles. He drove in 38 runs, scored 40 times, and stole three bases
Lavastida started the 2021 season with the Captains, and then was promoted, after 48 games to the Akron RubberDucks of the AA Northeast League. After 29 games with Akron, he moved up again to the Columbus Clippers of the AAA East League. In 84 games he hit .289 with nine home runs, 19 doubles and one triple. He drove in 51, scored 50 times and stole a career-high 16 bases.
In his Major League debut against the Kansas City Royals, Lavastida started the game at catcher and went 0 for 4 at the plate with a walk.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th 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 275 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.