Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Four Former Owls Included on MLB Training Camp Rosters
6/29/2020 1:40:00 PM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – With Opening Day scheduled for a little less than a month from now, and Major League Baseball training camps set to open in two days, MLB teams have set their initial pool of players that will be eligible to play in 2020. Four former Florida Atlantic University baseball Owls are among those vying for spots.
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A trio of pitchers – Ryan Garton (Minnesota Twins), Austin Gomber (St. Louis Cardinals) and David McKay (Detroit Tigers) – along with would-be rookie infielder C.J. Chatham (Boston Red Sox) are part of their respective organizations' initially-announced (and maximum of 60-player) camp rosters. Team workouts will begin on July 1 at each franchise's home facilities as well as at satellite sites nearby. By Opening Day, rosters will be trimmed to 30, then 28 two weeks after that, and finally 26 for the remainder of the regular season.
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Garton has the most experience of the quartet, having appeared in parts of three seasons and 59 combined career MLB relief appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners, including 13 games last year with Seattle. He also has over 400 minor league innings under his belt, along with 30 MiLB saves. The 30-year-old righthander pitched for the Owls from 2009 to 2012 before the Rays selected him in the 34th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He signed with the Twins this past offseason in late November, earning an invitation to Spring Training, where he appeared in five games for the squad back in March before the shutdown.
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Gomber, an Owl from 2012 to 2014, was a fourth round pick of the Cardinals in 2014. After 3 1/2 minor league seasons where he recorded 41 wins and a 2.92 ERA, he was called up to the big leagues in 2018, and pitched in 29 games with 11 starts that season. The lefthander, 26 years old, was pitching well for AAA Memphis to start last season (4-0, 2.98) before missing a chunk of the summer due to injury. He began this spring as part of the Cards' 40-man roster and was in big league camp with three appearances this spring before the team's new player pool was announced on Sunday.
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McKay became the most recent former Owl – the 11th in school history – to make his MLB debut, this past May 20 with Seattle. After seven games with the Mariners, he was picked up by Detroit in August, and would go on to pitch another 18 games with the Tigers. McKay will still have rookie status in 2020, and he had been very successful in his first Spring Training camp with Detroit in March, with a 1.42 ERA in six games. The righthander, who turned 25 on March 31, pitched for FAU from 2014 to 2016 and was a 14th round selection of the Kansas City Royals in 2016, spending his first two years in that organization before being acquired by Seattle ahead of the '18 season. He has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen since then.
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Last but not least, Chatham starred at shortstop for the Owls from 2014 to 2016, and in June of that latter year, became the highest draft pick in FAU history, in the second round and as the 51st pick overall by Boston. He has since made his way up the Red Sox ladder, all the way to AAA Pawtucket last season, where he hit .302 in 20 games. In four years and 266 games as a pro, the 25-year-old infielder is a .298 hitter, and was ranked this past offseason as the No. 12 prospect in the organization by Baseball America, and No. 13 by MLB.com. Should he either make the Opening Day roster, or merit a call-up from the "taxi squad" this year, he would be making his Major League debut.
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Here is more about MLB's 2020 roster rules:
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A trio of pitchers – Ryan Garton (Minnesota Twins), Austin Gomber (St. Louis Cardinals) and David McKay (Detroit Tigers) – along with would-be rookie infielder C.J. Chatham (Boston Red Sox) are part of their respective organizations' initially-announced (and maximum of 60-player) camp rosters. Team workouts will begin on July 1 at each franchise's home facilities as well as at satellite sites nearby. By Opening Day, rosters will be trimmed to 30, then 28 two weeks after that, and finally 26 for the remainder of the regular season.
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Garton has the most experience of the quartet, having appeared in parts of three seasons and 59 combined career MLB relief appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners, including 13 games last year with Seattle. He also has over 400 minor league innings under his belt, along with 30 MiLB saves. The 30-year-old righthander pitched for the Owls from 2009 to 2012 before the Rays selected him in the 34th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He signed with the Twins this past offseason in late November, earning an invitation to Spring Training, where he appeared in five games for the squad back in March before the shutdown.
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Gomber, an Owl from 2012 to 2014, was a fourth round pick of the Cardinals in 2014. After 3 1/2 minor league seasons where he recorded 41 wins and a 2.92 ERA, he was called up to the big leagues in 2018, and pitched in 29 games with 11 starts that season. The lefthander, 26 years old, was pitching well for AAA Memphis to start last season (4-0, 2.98) before missing a chunk of the summer due to injury. He began this spring as part of the Cards' 40-man roster and was in big league camp with three appearances this spring before the team's new player pool was announced on Sunday.
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McKay became the most recent former Owl – the 11th in school history – to make his MLB debut, this past May 20 with Seattle. After seven games with the Mariners, he was picked up by Detroit in August, and would go on to pitch another 18 games with the Tigers. McKay will still have rookie status in 2020, and he had been very successful in his first Spring Training camp with Detroit in March, with a 1.42 ERA in six games. The righthander, who turned 25 on March 31, pitched for FAU from 2014 to 2016 and was a 14th round selection of the Kansas City Royals in 2016, spending his first two years in that organization before being acquired by Seattle ahead of the '18 season. He has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen since then.
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Last but not least, Chatham starred at shortstop for the Owls from 2014 to 2016, and in June of that latter year, became the highest draft pick in FAU history, in the second round and as the 51st pick overall by Boston. He has since made his way up the Red Sox ladder, all the way to AAA Pawtucket last season, where he hit .302 in 20 games. In four years and 266 games as a pro, the 25-year-old infielder is a .298 hitter, and was ranked this past offseason as the No. 12 prospect in the organization by Baseball America, and No. 13 by MLB.com. Should he either make the Opening Day roster, or merit a call-up from the "taxi squad" this year, he would be making his Major League debut.
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Here is more about MLB's 2020 roster rules:
- The deadline for all clubs to submit their initial 60-man player pools ahead of the opening of summer camps this week was 4 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. Each club utilized its 60 spots in its own way, some maxing out the full 60, and some leaving room for flexibility down the line
- According to MLB's Operating Manual, all players on a 40-man roster "that the Club anticipates participating" during the season will be part of the player pool, while the rest will be made up of non-40-man roster players under contract
- No team will be allowed to exceed the limit of 60 players in its player pool at any time during camp or the regular season
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