Haggerty is the 229th former Northwoods League player and the eighth member of the Express to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Eau Claire Express infielder Sam Haggerty, made his Major League debut for the New York Mets on Wednesday, September 4, 2019. Haggerty is the 229th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Haggerty, who played collegiately at the University of New Mexico, played for the Express in 2013. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 24th round of the 2015 MLB draft.
In 2013 with the Express, Haggerty played in 34 games and hit .317 with two home runs and six doubles. He drove in 23 runs, walked 17 times and stole five bases.
Haggerty began his minor league career in 2015 with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. He played in 16 games and hit .283 with one home run, one triple and four doubles. He drove in seven runs and stole three bases.
In 2016 Haggerty moved up to the Lake County Captains of the Lo-A Midwest League. For the season, he hit .230 with four home runs, 15 doubles and two triples. He stole 12 bases and drove in 39 runs.
Haggerty was promoted again for the 2017 season to the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Hi-A Carolina League. Over 112 games he hit .253 and drove in 32 runs while scoring 72 times. He stole a career-high 49 bases and had three home runs, 27 doubles and 13 triples.
Haggerty began the 2018 season with the Akron RubberDucks of the AA Eastern League. After 87 games he was promoted to the Columbus Clippers of the AAA International League to end the season. Between the two clubs, he hit a combined .239 with four home runs, five triples and 21 doubles. He drove in 39 runs and stole 24 bases.
Following the 2018 season, Haggerty was traded to the Mets along with Walker Lockett in exchange for Kevin Plawecki.
Prior to being called up by the Mets, Haggerty had begun the year with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. He was then promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the AA Eastern League. He then received another promotion to the Syracuse Mets of the AAA International League. Over 86 games with the three teams he was hitting .271 with three home runs, six triples and 15 doubles. He had stolen 23 bases and driven in 26 runs while walking 48 times.
In his Major League debut against the Washington Nationals, Haggerty entered the game as a pinch-runner for Todd Frazier in the ninth inning but did not come back out in the field in the bottom of the inning.
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The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 25-year old summer collegiate 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 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.