In the first installment, we looked at the first half of 27 former Valley Leaguers who played in the major leagues in 2024. Here’s part II!

Major Leaguers, J-Y

  • Evan Justice (Charlottesville 2018), Colorado Rockies: Justice made his MLB debut in 2023 after a dominating minor league performance (63 K’s in 39 total innings). His 2024 season was a different story; he went 0-4, 9.88 at three minor league levels covering 27 innings. Nevertheless, the Rockies called him up, and he appeared in one game, September 1 against Baltimore, in which he walked one and recorded an out by strikeout.
  • Chad Kuhl (New Market 2012), Chicago White Sox: In late June 2023, Kuhl stepped away from pitching to help support his wife amid cancer treatments. Six months later, he signed with the Chicago White Sox to return to pro ball. After 56 innings at Triple-A Charlotte, Kuhl was recalled, and went 0-2, 5.06 in 53 1/3 major league innings. On September 24th, the White Sox released him, so he is currently a free agent.
  • Wyatt Langford (Charlottesville 2021), Texas Rangers: Langford was the Rangers’ 4th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Florida. He signed right away, and proceeded to destroy four different levels of the minor leagues- seriously, he hit .360/.480/.677 in a combined 200 plate appearances, with 17 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 12 stolen bases, and a silly 36/34 BB/K ratio. So it was no surprise when Langford made the big league club out of Spring Training in in March. In 557 major league plate appearances, Langford hit .253/.325/.415, with 25 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. Heading into the season, he was considered to be a Rookie of the Year favorite. It does not appear that he will win the award, but this young man, at 22 years old, looks like he has a tremendous career ahead of him.
  • Rhett Lowder (Strasburg 2021), Cincinnati Reds: It’s only right that “Lowder” comes right after “Langford.” Lowder was drafted by the Reds three picks after Langford went to the Rangers in 2023, but did not make his pro debut until this spring. He played at three different levels in the minors, going a combined 6-4, 3.64 in 108 2/3 innings, with 101 hits, only 24 walks, and 113 strikeouts. So it was also no surprise when he was called up to make his major league debut on August 30. All he did for the rest of the season, covering six starts, was go 2-2, 1.17 in 30 2/3 innings, allowing only 25 hits, 14 walks, and striking out 22.
  • Kyle McCann (Harrisonburg 2019), Oakland A’s: This one was a bit of a surprise- McCann made the major league club out of Spring Training this spring, after spending all of 2023 at Triple-A Las Vegas. He made his debut on March 30, and spent the entire season in Oakland as the team’s backup catcher. In 54 games and 157 plate appearances, McCann hit .236/.318/.371, with four doubles, five home runs, and a just-above-league-average 101 OPS+.
  • Kyle Nicolas (Charlottesville 2018), Pittsburgh Pirates: Nicolas didn’t make the Pirates out of Spring Training, but was recalled quickly from Triple-A Indianapolis, and he spent the rest of the year in the big leagues. The 25-year-old with the big fastball went 2-2, 3.95 in 51 games and 54 2/3 innings, with 31 walks and 55 strikeouts.
  • Connor Norby (Waynesboro 2019), Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins: I was curious about what would happen to Norby because in 2023 he crushed Triple-A pitching, but there wasn’t a lot of space in the major leagues, and Baltimore’s top prospect played the same position. Back at Triple-A to start the 2024 season, Norby continuing raking; he hit .297/.389/.519 in 375 plate appearances. The Orioles called him up for nine games, in early June and late July, and then, on July 30, included him in a trade to Miami for Trevor Rogers. Miami kept him the minors for about two weeks, and then called him up to finish the season in the majors. Combined for the two teams, Norby hit .236/.294/.438 in 194 plate appearances, with nine doubles and nine home runs. I watched him a bit when he played for Miami, and he looked very good in spurts- he looked like a major leaguer. Watch for him to make the Marlins out of Spring Training in 2025, and carve out a career in MLB.
  • Emilio Pagan (Harrisonburg 2010), Cincinnati Reds: Already somehow 33 years old, 2024 was Pagan’s 8th season in the major leagues. For the Reds, he went 4-5, 4.50, with one save, and a 11/44 BB/K ratio in 38 innings.
  • Vinnie Pasquantino (Charlottesville 2017), Kansas City Royals: Pasquantino was chugging along, just about to go over 100 RBIs, when he was hurt in a collision at first base in late August, breaking his right thumb. He was out the rest of the regular seasoin, but was able to return in the playoffs (and is still active, as the Royals are tied 1-1 with the New York Yankees as I write this). He had 554 plate appearances in the ’24 regular season, hitting .262/.315/.446, with 64 runs scored, 30 doubles, 19 home runs, 97 RBIs, and a very solid 40/71 BB/K ratio. At only 26, it looks like he’ll be a mainstay in Kansas City for quite a while.
  • Nate Pearson (Staunton 2016), Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs: A first round pick of the Blue Jays back in 2017, Pearson has a 100+ mph fastball, but a dubious health record. He answered that question this year, as he appeared in 60 total games with two organizations. He started the season with the Blue Jays, and went 0-1, 5.63 in 40 innings, with 17 walks and 51 strikeouts. Toronto then traded him to Chicago on July 27, where he improved to 2-1, 2.73 in 26 1/3 innings, with only four walks and 23 K’s.
  • Carlos Rodriguez (Charlottesville 2021), Milwaukee Brewers: At only 22 years old, Rodriguez spent most of his 2024 season at Triple-A Nashville, where he went 9-9, 4.51, and one strikeout per inning pitched. He started three games in the majors… and it didn’t go so well. He went 0-3, 7.30, with 19 hits, three walks, and three home runs in 12 1/3 innings. He’ll be back.
  • Carson Spiers (Charlottesville 2017), Cincinnati Reds: Spiers bounced back and forth between Triple-A Louisville and Cincinnati multiple times during 2024. He was awesome at Louisville (3-1, 2.51, 49 K’s in 46 innings), and went 5-7, 5.46, with a 1.533 WHIP in 90 2/3 innings in the majors.
  • Bryce Teodosio (Waynesboro 2018), Los Angeles Angels: Teodosio spent almost the whole season at Triple-A Salt Lake, where he hit .276/.339/.418 in 462 plate appearances, with 19 doubles, 12 triples, five home runs, 51 RBIs, and 40 stolen bases (and only four caught stealing). Called up to make his debut on September 7, he went 1-12 with five strikeouts in Anaheim.
  • Ryan Yarbrough (Luray 2012), Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays: Yarbrough started the season with the Dodgers, and went 4-2, 3.74 in 67 1/3 innings. On July 30, he was traded to the Blue Jays for Kevin Kiermaier, and was almost unhittable the rest of the way, going 1-0, 2.01 in 31 1/3 innings, with only 18 hits allowed, seven walks, and 26 K’s.

Best 2024 By WAR

“WAR” stands for “Wins Above Replacement,” an advanced stat created by sites like Baseball Reference and Fangraphs. Using B-R WAR, here are the top seven former VBLers in 2024.

  1. Wyatt Langford- 3.9
  2. Brendan Donovan- 2.6
  3. Austin Gomber- 2.2
  4. Rhett Lowder- 1.9
  5. Ryan Yarbrough- 1.2
  6. Vinnie Pasquantino- 1.1
  7. Romy Gonzalez- 1.0

Totals By Team

So which VBL teams have the most major leaguers from this season?

  1. Charlottesville- 7
  2. New Market- 4
  3. Waynesboro, Front Royal, Waynesboro- 3
  4. Luray, Strasburg, Harrisonburg- 2
  5. Woodstock- 1
  6. Covington, Culpeper, Purcellville, Winchester- 0