Former Thunder Bay Border Cat Greg Weissert made his Major League debut for the New York Yankees on Thursday, August 25, 2022. Weissert is the 302nd former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Weissert, who played collegiately at Fordham University, played for the Border Cats in 2015. He was drafted in the 18th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Yankees.
In 2015 with the Border Cats, Weissert appeared in 13 games and was 2-3 with a 1.74 ERA. He struck out 52 batters in 46.2 innings and had two saves.
Weissert began his professional career in 2016 with the Pulaski Yankees of the Rookie Level Appalachian League. After five games he was promoted to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Lo-A South Atlantic League. Between the two clubs he was a combined 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 17 games. He struck out 25 batters in 19 innings and saved five games.
Weissert spent the 2017 season with the Staten Island Yankees of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. In 19 games he was 2-2 with a 4.13 ERA. He pitched in 28.1 innings and struck out 34.
In 2018 Weissert started the season with Charleston and then was promoted, after 17 games, to the Tampa Tarpons of the Hi-A Florida State League. For the season he pitched in 36 games and was 4-4 with a 3.12 ERA. He struck out a career-high 86 batters in 60.2 innings and had four saves.
Weissert started 2019 in Tampa and then moved up to the Trenton Thunder of the AA eastern League to finish the season. In 39 games he was 3-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 65 innings. He struck out 77 and saved four games.
In 2021 Weissert began the year with the Somerset Patriots of the AA Northeast League. After 12 games he was sent to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the AAA East League. Over 40 games between the two teams he was 4-3 with a 1.64 ERA in 49.1 innings. He struck out 60 and saved six games.
Prior to his call-up to the Yankees, Weissert had appeared in 40 games with the RailRiders and was 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA. He pitched in 46 innings and struck out 67. In his Major League debut against the Athletics, Weissert entered the game in relief and pitched .1 innings and allowed three runs.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 29th 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 300 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.