Major League teams are starting Spring training but the minor leagues won’t finalize lineups for some time. Yet, I thought it worthwhile to see what former Tulane players might be doing for the upcoming season.
Every player dreams of becoming a “big leaguer,” but it is a tough cut. If a player is not considered a “top prospect” by age 26 or so his likelihood of seeing the major leagues is much reduced. During the past year several former Tulane players retired from professional baseball short of their goal. This included Will McAfer, Kaleb Roper, Sal Gozzo, Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Stephon Alemais. It’s possible one or more of these will continue their quest through some independent league but that is an even tougher road to navigate.
These are the ones I’m aware of still pulling down a professional baseball paycheck:
Aaron Loup. Loup has been in the major leagues now for 12 seasons, which is one of the longest, if not longest, tenures in the “bigs” of any former Tulane player. Coming off of a terrible year in which he had a 6.10 ERA in 55 appearances for the LA Angels, he is now 36-years old and his career may be coming to an end. He’s currently a free agent, but, as a left-handed reliever, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got one more chance. If it’s going to happen, it will be in the next month or so
Jake Rogers. Jake is now entering his fourth season with the Detroit Tigers, and it would be two more if he hadn’t missed all of 2020 and 2022 with injuries. This past season, he hit .221 with 21 home runs and could be coming into his own as a hitter. Sadly, known for his strong arm (he threw out almost 50% of base stealers in his first two years), he only threw out 16% of them this past season. That’s not the Jake Rogers I remember.
Ian Gibaut. Ian is entering his third season with the Cincinnati Reds, after spending the previous three plus years with four different teams. After appearing in 74 games last year (75.2 innings and a 3.33 ERA), he seems to have found a more permanent home.
J. P. France. J. P was called up by Houston last May 6th and went on to go 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 135 innings. I was surprised he did not get any votes for Rookie of the Year in the AL. Regardless, he appears to have a solid future in the major leagues at 28 years old.
Grant Witherspoon. Witherspoon is currently a free agent and his future is in some doubt. After being released by the Toledo Mud Hens (AAA) last August where he hit .205 in 117 at bats. He then played in Mexico this winter, batting .245 with 11 HR’s in 192 at bats. At 27 years old his shot at the “bigs” may be all but closed, so we’ll have to see if he gets another opportunity in the upcoming season.
Kody Hoese. A one-time first round draft choice for the Dodgers, Kody was a top ten prospect for them through 2020. Since then, injuries and a lack of performance have stagnated his career and he’s spent the last three years playing at Tulsa for the Dodger’s AA franchise. He’s shown progress each year with his batting average improving from .188 to .232 to .244 during that time. But, even in 2023, he only hit 11 HR’s in 344 at bats—not many for a corner infielder. He’s got time to “ramp it up” but this year could be crucial. He’s now 26 years old.
Hudson Haskins. Since being drafted in the second round in 2020, Haskins has made solid progress in his career, landing in AAA this past season. Unfortunately, injuries early in the year and a season-ending injury in June curtailed his progress. Still, he hit .268 with three HR’s in 82 at bats to show he could play at that level. If he can come back healthy this year, he can renew his climb to the top. He’s 25 years old.
Brendon Cellucci Brandon is now 25 years old and spent last season in AA ball as a mid-inning reliever who threw 51 innings with a 5.29 ERA. He’ll probably stay in AA this season but needs to improve if he expects to move up.
Chase Solesksy. Solesky reached AAA this past season and enters this year as a 26 year old. As a starting pitcher he did well in AA last year (3.23 ERA in 39 innings) but had difficulty when promoted to AAA where he threw 78 innings to a 6.35 ERA. Opponents hit .294 against him and his strikeout to walk ratio was not good. That he’s given the ball in the starting rotation is fine but he will need to improve his results to stay in AAA or move on to the majors.
Collin Burns. Collin has shown sparks of success in his career so far but long stints on IR have hampered his progress. Due to various rehab assignments, last season he played in four different leagues—rookie, A, high A, and AA within the Oriole organization. Through it all he hit .213 in 164 at bats. Interestingly, he stole 14 bases without being caught even once. He’s still only 23 years old and, if he can stay healthy, can regain his upward trajectory.
Donovan Benoit. Benoit had some success last season in High A garnering 3 saves in 11 appearances and posting a 1.59 ERA in 17 innings before being promoted to a AA team. There he had some difficulties (5.40 ERA in 14 innings) prior to going on IR for the remainder of the season in July with a right elbow strain. In the off-season he was returned to his A+ team and I have no idea what his elbow situation is. He’s 25 years old and still has a window to the top if he can get healthy and continue to progress.
Keagan Gillies. Although now 26 years old, Keagan’s future looks bright. In 40.2 innings of relief last season split between high A and AA ball, he had a 2.45 ERA and went 5-1 with 4 saves. More impressive, he struck out 61 (13.5 per 9 innings) and walked only 14. I think he needs to get to AAA this season and perform well to keep his major league options open.
Conner Pelerin. Last season, Connor moved from the Yankee organization to the White Sox where he pitched in an A league. His stats remind me of the guy we saw at Tulane-- great stuff, poor control. He had a 5.14 ERA in 21 innings despite holding opponents to a .176 batting average and striking out 28 (12.0 per 9 innings). He walked 21, however (one an inning). As we’ve known all along, if he can improve his control, at 24 years old, he can move up rapidly. We’ll see.
Tyler Hoffman. After some time in A ball, last season, Tyler was returned to a rookie league having thrown 23.2 innings to a 6.85 ERA. He didn’t fair well there either (14.21 ERA in 6.1 innings) and remains on the rookie roster going into this year. Hopefully he can get back to A ball at some point this year and perform better. He’s 24 years old and starting to fall behind his peer group.
Dylan Carmouche. Dylan was only drafted last summer and did not appear in a minor league game. He’s currently slated to play in a rookie league and his career is only just begun. Wish him well.
If anyone is interested, I'll try to provide an update about the time of the Major League All Star game. Unitl then,
Roll Wave!!!
Every player dreams of becoming a “big leaguer,” but it is a tough cut. If a player is not considered a “top prospect” by age 26 or so his likelihood of seeing the major leagues is much reduced. During the past year several former Tulane players retired from professional baseball short of their goal. This included Will McAfer, Kaleb Roper, Sal Gozzo, Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Stephon Alemais. It’s possible one or more of these will continue their quest through some independent league but that is an even tougher road to navigate.
These are the ones I’m aware of still pulling down a professional baseball paycheck:
Aaron Loup. Loup has been in the major leagues now for 12 seasons, which is one of the longest, if not longest, tenures in the “bigs” of any former Tulane player. Coming off of a terrible year in which he had a 6.10 ERA in 55 appearances for the LA Angels, he is now 36-years old and his career may be coming to an end. He’s currently a free agent, but, as a left-handed reliever, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got one more chance. If it’s going to happen, it will be in the next month or so
Jake Rogers. Jake is now entering his fourth season with the Detroit Tigers, and it would be two more if he hadn’t missed all of 2020 and 2022 with injuries. This past season, he hit .221 with 21 home runs and could be coming into his own as a hitter. Sadly, known for his strong arm (he threw out almost 50% of base stealers in his first two years), he only threw out 16% of them this past season. That’s not the Jake Rogers I remember.
Ian Gibaut. Ian is entering his third season with the Cincinnati Reds, after spending the previous three plus years with four different teams. After appearing in 74 games last year (75.2 innings and a 3.33 ERA), he seems to have found a more permanent home.
J. P. France. J. P was called up by Houston last May 6th and went on to go 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 135 innings. I was surprised he did not get any votes for Rookie of the Year in the AL. Regardless, he appears to have a solid future in the major leagues at 28 years old.
Grant Witherspoon. Witherspoon is currently a free agent and his future is in some doubt. After being released by the Toledo Mud Hens (AAA) last August where he hit .205 in 117 at bats. He then played in Mexico this winter, batting .245 with 11 HR’s in 192 at bats. At 27 years old his shot at the “bigs” may be all but closed, so we’ll have to see if he gets another opportunity in the upcoming season.
Kody Hoese. A one-time first round draft choice for the Dodgers, Kody was a top ten prospect for them through 2020. Since then, injuries and a lack of performance have stagnated his career and he’s spent the last three years playing at Tulsa for the Dodger’s AA franchise. He’s shown progress each year with his batting average improving from .188 to .232 to .244 during that time. But, even in 2023, he only hit 11 HR’s in 344 at bats—not many for a corner infielder. He’s got time to “ramp it up” but this year could be crucial. He’s now 26 years old.
Hudson Haskins. Since being drafted in the second round in 2020, Haskins has made solid progress in his career, landing in AAA this past season. Unfortunately, injuries early in the year and a season-ending injury in June curtailed his progress. Still, he hit .268 with three HR’s in 82 at bats to show he could play at that level. If he can come back healthy this year, he can renew his climb to the top. He’s 25 years old.
Brendon Cellucci Brandon is now 25 years old and spent last season in AA ball as a mid-inning reliever who threw 51 innings with a 5.29 ERA. He’ll probably stay in AA this season but needs to improve if he expects to move up.
Chase Solesksy. Solesky reached AAA this past season and enters this year as a 26 year old. As a starting pitcher he did well in AA last year (3.23 ERA in 39 innings) but had difficulty when promoted to AAA where he threw 78 innings to a 6.35 ERA. Opponents hit .294 against him and his strikeout to walk ratio was not good. That he’s given the ball in the starting rotation is fine but he will need to improve his results to stay in AAA or move on to the majors.
Collin Burns. Collin has shown sparks of success in his career so far but long stints on IR have hampered his progress. Due to various rehab assignments, last season he played in four different leagues—rookie, A, high A, and AA within the Oriole organization. Through it all he hit .213 in 164 at bats. Interestingly, he stole 14 bases without being caught even once. He’s still only 23 years old and, if he can stay healthy, can regain his upward trajectory.
Donovan Benoit. Benoit had some success last season in High A garnering 3 saves in 11 appearances and posting a 1.59 ERA in 17 innings before being promoted to a AA team. There he had some difficulties (5.40 ERA in 14 innings) prior to going on IR for the remainder of the season in July with a right elbow strain. In the off-season he was returned to his A+ team and I have no idea what his elbow situation is. He’s 25 years old and still has a window to the top if he can get healthy and continue to progress.
Keagan Gillies. Although now 26 years old, Keagan’s future looks bright. In 40.2 innings of relief last season split between high A and AA ball, he had a 2.45 ERA and went 5-1 with 4 saves. More impressive, he struck out 61 (13.5 per 9 innings) and walked only 14. I think he needs to get to AAA this season and perform well to keep his major league options open.
Conner Pelerin. Last season, Connor moved from the Yankee organization to the White Sox where he pitched in an A league. His stats remind me of the guy we saw at Tulane-- great stuff, poor control. He had a 5.14 ERA in 21 innings despite holding opponents to a .176 batting average and striking out 28 (12.0 per 9 innings). He walked 21, however (one an inning). As we’ve known all along, if he can improve his control, at 24 years old, he can move up rapidly. We’ll see.
Tyler Hoffman. After some time in A ball, last season, Tyler was returned to a rookie league having thrown 23.2 innings to a 6.85 ERA. He didn’t fair well there either (14.21 ERA in 6.1 innings) and remains on the rookie roster going into this year. Hopefully he can get back to A ball at some point this year and perform better. He’s 24 years old and starting to fall behind his peer group.
Dylan Carmouche. Dylan was only drafted last summer and did not appear in a minor league game. He’s currently slated to play in a rookie league and his career is only just begun. Wish him well.
If anyone is interested, I'll try to provide an update about the time of the Major League All Star game. Unitl then,
Roll Wave!!!