Grafton, WI – Just a few weeks ago, former Chinooks player Zack Granite (2012 roster) made his MLB debut with the Minnesota Twins becoming the first Lakeshore players to make it to the show. Now a second has broken into the Major Leagues as Andrew Stevenson has been called up by the Washington Nationals.
The move came late Saturday evening after a number of injuries have plagued the Washington Nationals prompting the team to call up Andrew Stevenson from their Triple A affiliate the Syracuse Chiefs. Stevenson will be joining the team today in Arizona when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nationals currently have a massive lead in the NL East and the second best record in the National League.
Andrew Stevenson was part of the 2013 roster who would go on to become the 2nd Half South Division champions taking the Chinooks to their first playoffs in franchise history. The team would go on to loose in game 3 of the NWL Divisional Series to the Madison Mallards. Andrew, who was attending LSU, made quite the impact for the Chinooks. Besides his outstanding defensive skills in the outfield, Stevenson lead the team in a number of offensive categories including batting average which he ended the season at .345. His batting average also earned Andrew the Chinook's Kapco Steel Slugger Award for the 2013 season.
The Youngsville, Louisiana native appeared in half of the team's games that season ending the year with 49 hits, 30 runs, 2 HR's, and 14 RBI's. He appeared in the first ever Major League Dreams Showcase which is held each August in Madison and acts as a second All-Star Game. At the showcase, Andrew went 2-4 with an RBI. Stevenson was not eligible for the Northwoods League All-Star Game that July due to not having enough plate appearances as he didn't arrive to the Chinooks until late June. Stevenson also batted .500 in three playoff games including 6 RBI's.
He would go on to be drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2015 as the team's first pick in that year's draft, going in the 2nd round, 58th pick overall. In 2015 he would start off his minor league career with the Auburn Doubledays in the New York Penn League which is a short season rookie ball league. He would appear in 18 games and got off to a hot start at the plate batting .361. After that, a very brief stint with the Gulf Coast Nationals, part of the Gulf Coast League, another rookie ball league. He would spend a majority of his time with the Hagerstown Suns, Single A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. Appearing in 35 games with a .285 batting average.
2016 would see Stevenson spilt time between two of the Nationals minor league affiliates, the Potomac Nationals (Advance Single A of the Carolina League) and the Harrisburg Senators (Double A of the Eastern League). Andrew would see more success on the Single A level, batting .304, compared to his time in Double A, batting just .246.
A slow start in Double A would not distract Stevenson as he was placed back with the Senators after having a good Spring Training this past spring. After about 20 games, the Nationals elevated him to the Triple A level where he appeared in 73 games up until being called up Saturday night by the Washington Nationals.
The Chinooks would like to wish Andrew the best of luck and look forward to watching his career begin with the Washington Nationals. The Milwaukee Brewers will actually face off against the Nationals this week in Washington and then again at Miller Park over Labor Day weekend.
