Top 5 former UNM players who’ve reached MLB
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BVM) — Infielder Mack Chambers and right-handed pitcher Justin Armbruester recently joined a group of over 100 University of New Mexico baseball players who have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft since 1966.
Chambers, an 11th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Armbruester, a 12th-round Baltimore Orioles selection, will be in much more exclusive company if either of them eventually play in an MLB game. Only 12 former Lobos have actually reached the big leagues.
Of those 12 players, five played in three or fewer MLB seasons during their professional career, while three are still active. These are the top five former UNM baseball players who have made it to majors.
5. Rod Nichols
Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round (115th overall) in 1985, Nichols made his big-league debut with the Tribe in 1988 and played seven seasons, the first five with the organization that drafted him out of UNM. The righthander pitched in 100 career games with his best season being the 1991 campaign when he recorded a 3.54 ERA in 137.1 innings pitched for a Cleveland team that won only 57 games.
4. Sam Haggerty
Two years after being named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, Haggerty was drafted by the Indians in the 24th round (724th overall) following his 2015 junior season with the Lobos. After several years in Cleveland’s minor-league system, the Indians traded the switch-hitting infielder in 2019 to the New York Mets, who would designate him for assignment later that year after he made his major-league debut and played in only 11 games. Haggerty caught on with the Seattle Mariners in 2020 and has seemed to carve out his niche as a useful utility player. He had 13 hits in 50 at-bats for the M’s during the shortened 2020 season and he appeared in 35 games for the team this season before landing on the 60-day injured list in June. Only 27 years old, Haggerty still has plenty of time to make more of an impact in the bigs.
3. Luis Gonzalez
Rated as the No. 10 prospect in the Chicago White Sox minor-league system, Gonzalez has the potential to be one of the most successful former Lobos. The sweet-swinging, left-handed outfielder was taken out of Albuquerque in the third round (87th overall) of the 2017 draft after he hit .371 with 15 stolen bases and a school-record 58 walks as a UNM junior. He made his debut with the Sox in 2020 in what was a brief three-game stint and he’s had six at-bats this season, collecting his first hit on a double and drawing a pair of walks. He projects as a versatile fourth outfielder who can hit for double-digit home runs and doubles and, if he’s not traded for a veteran, he may get the opportunity to help a young and talented White Sox team win a lot of games over the next several years.
2. Scott Strickland
The Houston native had a solid, yet injury-shortened big-league career after the Montreal Expos selected him with their 10th round pick (316th overall) in 1997. Strickland only spent a couple of years in the minors before making his debut with Montreal in 1999. The right-handed reliever was a 2.7 WAR (wins above replacement) player between his 2000 and 2001 seasons with the Expos when he threw a combined 129.1 innings and struck out 133 batters. After a little more than three seasons in Montreal, he was traded to the New York Mets, for who he pitched 87 games prior to undergoing Tommy John Surgery which shelved him for nearly two full years. In all, Strickland pitched in 239 games and recorded a respectable 3.38 ERA in 242 career innings.
1. Mitch Garver
Considered one of the greatest UNM baseball players of all time, Garver was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the ninth round (260th overall) of the 2013 MLB draft after starting 181 consecutive games for the Lobos and being named the Mountain West Co-Player of the Year. The Albuquerque native made his debut in 2017, but it wasn’t until two years later that the power-hitting catcher really began to make an impact in the majors. Garver batted .270 and slugged 31 home runs while driving in 67 in only 93 games for Minnesota in 2019, earning the Silver Slugger Award for catchers thanks to his breakout season. Garver was limited to only 23 games due to injury during last year’s shortened season, but he’s rebounded with 12 homers in 50 games for the Twins this season and figures to be a valuable offensive weapon behind the plate for the Twins going forward.
