Stone is the 323rd former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Battle Creek Bomber and Great Lakes Resorter Gavin Stone made his Major League debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Stone is the 323rd former Northwoods League player and the first Resorter to reach the Major League level.
Stone, who played collegiately at the University of Central Arkansas, played for the Bombers in 2019 and the Resorters in 2020. He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2020 MLB draft.
In 2019 with the Bombers, Stone appeared in two games and was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA. He pitched 2.0 innings and struck out three. In 2020 with Great Lakes, he pitched in two games and was 0-1 with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Stone started his professional career in 2021 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Low-A West League. After 18 games he was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons of the High-A Central League. Between the two clubs he appeared in 23 games and was 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA. He struck out an amazing 138 batters in 91.0 innings while walking 25.
In 2022, Stone started the season with the Loons. After six games he moved up to the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Texas League. He would appear in 14 games with Tulsa before being promoted again to the Oklahoma City Dodgers of the AAA Pacific Coast League. For the season he appeared in 26 games and was 9-6 with a 1.48 ERA over 121.2 innings. He struck out 168 batters while walking 44.
Prior to his call-up to the Dodgers, Stone had appeared in six games with Oklahoma City and was 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 24.2 innings. In his Major League debut against the Philadelphia Phillies Stone started the game and went 4.0 innings, striking out one while walking two.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now entering its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 320 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 via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.