Over the past six seasons, the Long Beach State baseball program led Major League Baseball with the most alumni from one university.
In 2015, 16 former LBSU ball players saw action in the big leagues and five of them were a part of teams that made it into the postseason.
This season is no different as a total of eight ex-Dirtbags are firmly placed on opening day rosters with several others on the disabled list and minor leagues waiting to get their chance.
Early birds
The Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays started their season a little earlier than everyone else, playing their first game of the season on Sunday instead of Monday like most of the league.
Ex-Dirtbag Evan Longoria hit an RBI single in the third inning to bring in the Rays’ first run of the season. Later in the game, Longoria’s former teammate at LBSU, Troy Tulowitzki, crushed a two-run home run to push the score to 5-1 in favor of the Blue Jays. Longoria went 2-4 with an RBI while Tulowitzki went 1-3 with two RBIs and a walk in the Jays’ 5-3 win.
The Duffman returns
2014 World Series champion Matt Duffy started the 2016 season ready to build upon his impressive rookie season in 2015 with the San Francisco Giants when he had a .295 batting average, drove in 77 runs and hit 12 home runs. On Monday, Duffy got the start at third base and set the pace of the game with a two-RBI single in the second inning and a two-run shot in the fifth, giving the Giants a 12-3 win over Milwaukee
Hanging around in D.C.
The Washington Nationals’ infielder Danny Espinosa is not a consistent starter like he was in his first two seasons in The Bigs, but he still has a role to play with the Nats in 2016. Espinosa got the start at shortstop on Monday, going 1-4 in Washington’s 4-3 win over Atlanta.
Bulls in the pen
There are four pitchers on opening day rosters that tossed at LBSU at one point in their careers. However, all four will have to wait a bit to take a mound.
Relief pitchers Vance Worley, Bryan Shaw and Nick Vincent didn’t see any action with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners, respectively. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is set to start on Sunday against the Texas Rangers. Weaver is returning from a neck injury he picked up during spring training and is slated to be the fifth starter in the Angels’ rotation.
Get well soon
Three other former Dirtbags are sitting on their respective teams’ disabled lists, waiting to be key contributors this season.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada, who was a major part of Toronto’s postseason run last season, is on the 15-day D.L. with a sore back. He set to make his first start on Sunday against Boston.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jared Hughes is also on the 15-day D.L. after the reliever strained his back during spring training. Hughes does not have a set return date, but he is missed in Pittsburgh after throwing 67 innings for a 2.28 ERA out of the bullpen last season.
Jason Vargas of the Kansas City Royals will have to wait significantly longer than Estrada and Hughes to pitch this season. Vargas is on the Royals’ 60-day DL after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Aug. 5, 2015.
Wishing it was Opening Day
Former LBSU basketball star James Ennis finally found significant minutes with an NBA team. The only problem: there is only a week and a half and a handful of games left in the season.
After the Memphis Grizzlies released Ennis on March 2, the second-year forward spent weeks in the Developmental League before the New Orleans Pelicans rescued him with a 10-day contract on Wednesday. Ennis immediately saw playing time, logging 24 minutes on the same day he signed his contract. He scored 13 points, picked up four assists and collected five rebounds in the 100-92 loss to San Antonio.
On Thursday, Ennis played 30 minutes, surpassing his season total of 45 NBA minutes he had with the Grizzlies in just two games with the Pels. Ennis scored 11 points on three for five shooting from the three-point line and had six rebounds and three assists in the 101-95 win over Denver.
In the Pelicans’ 106-87 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, Ennis recorded his best game of the season. He picked up 14 points, four steals, three rebounds, two assists and a block in 29 minutes.