{"id":99960,"date":"2021-04-02T23:13:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-03T03:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=99960"},"modified":"2021-04-03T13:03:19","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T17:03:19","slug":"35-former-caps-wizards-make-mlb-opening-day-rosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2021\/04\/02\/35-former-caps-wizards-make-mlb-opening-day-rosters\/","title":{"rendered":"35 former ‘Caps\/Wizards make MLB Opening Day rosters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Opening<\/p>\n

TinCaps news release announcing that 35 former players have made it to 2021 Major League Baseball Opening Day rosters.<\/p>\n

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35 Former TinCaps\/Wizards Make 2021 MLB Opening Day Rosters<\/strong>
\nTatis Highlights List Who\u2019ve Gone from the 260 to The Show<\/em><\/p>\n

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Fort Wayne, Indiana (April 2, 2021) \u2014 As the 2021 Major League Baseball season began Thursday, 35 former Fort Wayne prospects made Opening Day rosters. The list features six players with the TinCaps\u2019 parent club, the San Diego Padres, including star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. In all, Fort Wayne\u2019s alumni can currently be found with 18 of MLB\u2019s 30 teams.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Tatis helped lead the Padres to a playoff series win over the St. Louis Cardinals last year. During the offseason, he signed a 14-year contract extension with the Padres, making it the longest deal for a player in MLB history. At $340 million, it was also the third largest. Now Tatis is on the cover of this year\u2019s MLB The Show video game, becoming the youngest player ever to earn that honor. He has recently appeared in commercials for Adidas, BMW, and Gatorade. The Padres are considered a World Series contender in 2021.<\/p>\n

Tatis\u2019 stardom has come after he electrified Fort Wayne as an 18-year-old in 2017. That year the Midwest League All-Star set the franchise\u2019s single-season home run record with 21 long balls in 117 games and had multiple defensive highlights appear on SportsCenter\u2019s Top 10.<\/p>\n

In February, MLB Network ranked Tatis as the sixth best player in baseball. Not far behind, 2014 TinCap shortstop Trea Turner, now with the Washington Nationals, checked in at No. 26. A pair of former \u2019Caps pitchers also made the \u201cTop 100\u201d as left-hander Max Fried (2013-14) of the Atlanta Braves ranked 70th and Padres righty Dinelson Lamet (2015) was No. 74.<\/p>\n

Padres lefty Ryan Weathers and infielder Tucupita Marcano\u2014both of whom are just 21 and called Parkview Field home in 2019\u2014are the freshest Fort Wayne alumni in the bigs. At the other end of the spectrum, Oliver P\u00e9rez (2001), Brandon Kintzler (2005), Wade LeBlanc (2006), Joakim Soria (2006), Eric Sogard (2007), and Corey Kluber (2008) all played for the Fort Wayne Wizards before the team rebranded to the TinCaps in 2009. Marcano made his MLB debut Thursday, becoming the 193rd player since the franchise\u2019s inception in 1993 to reach \u201cThe Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, along with 2014-15 TinCap infielder Josh VanMeter, who grew up about 20 minutes south of Parkview Field in Ossian and now plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks, a pair of Fort Wayne natives are also in the big leagues. Bishop Luers High School grad Kevin Kiermaier continues to star in center field for the Tampa Bay Rays, while Zach McKinstry out of North Side High School is a rookie for the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Coming up through the Midwest League, Kiermaier and McKinstry both played against the TinCaps.<\/p>\n

In 2020, 46 Fort Wayne alumni played in the majors. Click here to see that list. The number of recent TinCaps in the majors will surely rise as this season progresses.<\/p>\n

The 2021 TinCaps are set to begin their season on Tuesday, May 4 (7:05 p.m.) against the West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit Tigers affiliate). Before that, throughout April, Parkview Field is hosting 29 high school and college baseball games involving 46 different area schools.<\/p>\n


\nFormer Fort Wayne Players on 2021 MLB Opening Day Rosters<\/strong>
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San Diego Padres<\/strong><\/p>\n