Hartwig is the 326th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Lakeshore Chinook and Battle Creek Bomber Grant Hartwig made his Major League debut for the New York Mets on Monday, June 19, 2023. Hartwig is the 326th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Hartwig, who played collegiately at Miami University of Ohio, played for the Chinooks in 2019 and the Bombers in 2020. He was signed by the Mets as an undrafted free agent after the 2021 MLB Draft.
In 2019 with the Chinooks, Hartwig appeared in 12 games and was 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA. He struck out 39 batters in 38.1 innings while walking 13. In 2020 he pitched in four games with the Bombers and was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Over 7.0 innings he struck out seven and had one save.
Hartwig started his professional career in 2021 with the Mets team in the Rookie level Florida Complex League. After four games he went to the St. Lucie Mets of the Low-A Southeast League. Between the two clubs he was a combined 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in eight games. He pitched in 11.2 innings and struck out 12 while walking four. He also had three saves.
In 2022 Hartwig started the season with St. Lucie and then was promoted, after 10 games, to the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Hi-A South Atlantic League. After 11 games with Brooklyn, he moved up again to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the AA Eastern League. He would be promoted again to finish the season to the Syracuse Mets of the AAA International League. For the season he appeared in 39 games and was 6-2 with a 1.75 ERA. He struck out 83 batters in 56.2 innings while saving 13 games.
Prior to his call-up to the Mets, Hartwig had appeared in 21 games with Syracuse and was 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. In his Major League debut against the Houston Astros, Hartwig entered the game in the 9th inning in relief of former La Crosse Logger Max Scherzer. He would pitch one inning allowing no runs on one hit.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in 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 325 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.
