No less than 19 former Big West baseball standouts will suit up for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams on Opening Day of the 2026 season.
Former Big West players are spread out over 13 MLB clubs, with the St. Louis Cardinals housing four alums on their rosters. The Athletics, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants are also teams that have multiple Big West alums on Opening Day rosters. Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine led all Big West programs with four players each on Opening Day rosters.
Additional former Big West players are currently free agents, key reserves, prospects or on the injured list of clubs and may join active rosters in the near future. Those include
Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly/Washington Nationals),
Shane Bieber (UC Santa Barbara/Toronto Blue Jays),
Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State/Cincinnati Reds),
Dillon Tate (UC Santa Barbara/free agent),
Justin Turner (Cal State Fullerton/free agent),
Drew Thorpe (Cal Poly/Chicago White Sox), and
Darius Vines (Cal State Bakersfield/Atlanta Braves).
Big West alums are also scattered throughout MLB coaching staffs and front offices, but no two are more prominent than managers
Mark Kotsay (Cal State Fullerton/Athletics) and
Skip Schumaker (UC Santa Barbara/Texas Rangers).
| MLB Player, Position |
Alma Mater |
MLB Club |
| Tanner Bibee, SP |
Cal State Fullerton |
Cleveland Guardians |
| Justin Bruihl, RP |
Cal Poly |
St. Louis Cardinals |
| Matt Chapman, 3B |
Cal State Fullerton |
San Francisco Giants |
| Nathan Church, OF |
UC Irvine |
St. Louis Cardinals |
| Denzel Clarke, OF |
CSUN |
Athletics |
| Jarren Duran, OF |
Long Beach State |
Boston Red Sox |
| Robert Garcia, RP |
UC Davis |
Texas Rangers |
| Calvin Faucher, RP |
UC Irvine |
Miami Marlins |
| Andre Granillo, RP |
UC Riverside |
Washington Nationals |
| Christian Koss, IF |
UC Irvine |
San Francisco Giants |
| Brooks Lee, IF |
Cal Poly |
Minnesota Twins |
| Michael Lorenzen, SP |
Cal State Fullerton |
Colorado Rockies |
| Michael McGreevy, SP |
UC Santa Barbara |
St. Louis Cardinals |
| Jeff McNeil, 2B |
Long Beach State |
Athletics |
| Andre Pallante, RP |
UC Irvine |
St. Louis Cardinals |
| Joe Ryan, SP |
CSUN |
Minnesota Twins |
| Connor Seabold, RP |
Cal State Fullerton |
Detroit Tigers |
| Cade Smith, RP |
Hawai'i |
Cleveland Guardians |
| Bryan Woo, SP |
Cal Poly |
Seattle Mariners |