Thursday, April 25th, 2024
The MAC at 50
MAC Players in the Pros
Part II: Two major leaguers, four in minors and indy ball since 2000
By Tom Haines
Photo from Associated Press
San Diego starter Craig Stammen looks in for a sign against San Francisco's LaMonte Wade Jr. on Oct. 5, 2022. Stammen, a Versailles grad, spent 13 years in the major leagues.
Since 2000, the Midwest Athletic Conference has sent six alumni to Minor League Baseball or the independent leagues.
Two of them, Versailles grad Craig Stammen and Marion Local alum Cory Luebke, made it to the major leagues.
"At the end of the day, it's still a game," Luebke said. "I think that's what helped me mentally. When you learn how to play the game without fear -and I think it equates to a lot of life - not worrying about the consequences, and just kind of giving it everything you got and being able to live with the outcome - when I got to that point, it really clicked for me."
Versailles' entry into the MAC in the fall of 2001 helped, as the Tigers sent three pitchers to professional baseball in the next 10 years.
Left-hander Josh Bruns, who graduated in 2002, was the first. Coming out of Northern Kentucky in 2007, he spent two years as a starter with the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League. Jordan Liette followed five years later, starting three games with the Frontier League's Rockford RiverHawks.
But the biggest was Stammen, drafted out of Dayton in 2005. Stammen debuted in 2009 and pitched 13 years with Washington and San Diego, going 55-44 with a 3.66 ERA, before retiring last fall.
The MAC's second big-leaguer came a year later. Luebke, drafted by the Padres in 2007, made his debut on Sept. 3, 2010, giving up four runs in five innings against Colorado.
"I remember my first hitter, Dexter Fowler, I had him 0-2 and ended up walking him," Luebke said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Oh no, don't be doing this.' But ended up picking him off first, so it worked out. … Troy Tulowitzki got me for a three-run shot that day, ended up costing us the game, but it was good to get that first one out of the way."
Luebke, a three-sport star at Marion, saw pro scouts when he was with the St. Henry American Legion team. His first love was basketball, but his sophomore year he broke out as a pitcher and saw he had a future in baseball.
But he said the best thing that happened to him with the Flyers was playing for Tim Goodwin.
"He was able to ingrain in me that we all have a different gear that we just don't know is in there yet," Luebke said. "I think finding that late in my high school career kind of helped propel me into being successful from a baseball standpoint."
Photo from Associated Press
San Diego starter Cory Luebke works the first inning against San Francisco on July 16, 2011. Luebke, a Marion Local grad, pitched four years in the major leagues, debuting with the Padres in 2010.
Drafted by Pittsburgh out of Marion, Luebke chose Ohio State. The Rangers drafted him his sophomore year, but he went back to school and went to the Padres a year later.
Luebke played with Eugene, Lake Elsinore, Fort Wayne, San Antonio and Portland before debuting amid a playoff race with San Francisco. Luebke started four games and had a 4.08 ERA, but the Giants eliminated the Padres on the last day.
He made the majors for good in 2011, posting a 6-10 record and a 3.29 ERA between the rotation and the bullpen. In 2012, Luebke only pitched five games, going 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA, before an injury derailed his career.
"One of the days my stuff was probably the best as far as just competing as a starter was probably the game I got hurt, honestly," he said. "It was my second-to-last start I ever made before the elbow blew up. Me and Roy Halladay had a 0-0 game going into the eighth in San Diego Saturday night."
Luebke threw eight scoreless innings and the Padres won 5-1. But on one of his last pitches, facing Philadelphia's Juan Pierre, the ligament in his elbow tore.
He pitched six innings and won against San Francisco six days later, but then had to get Tommy John surgery.
"I had a stretch of starts at the start of 2012 where I was just a complete pitcher," he said. "In 2010 and 2011, and earlier in my career, I wouldn't say I ever tried to pitch to contact. I was more striking guys out, letting pitch counts run up a little bit.
"Then my last three or four starts before I got hurt there, we had added a changeup and added some different variations to my slider and cutter," he went on. "And it was the first time in my career I felt like I was getting guys out when I wanted to get them out. I was going to be able to eat a lot more innings up and pitch deeper in the games."
Instead, he spent 14 months rehabbing only to find the surgery didn't take. After a second surgery, he was in Triple-A for a final rehab start and felt a pop in his elbow from a nerve affected by the Tommy John. Then he got a staph infection from the third surgery.
By 2016, Luebke finally felt good again and got a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On April 6, he came in for the ninth inning of a win against St. Louis, getting two outs with a hit and a walk before closer Mark Melancon finished it off.
"It was special," he said. "I'm not going to sit here and say I threw as well in Pittsburgh as I wanted to. But I remember talking with my parents about this: that day in Pittsburgh, I don't think I've ever been so nervous on the mound."
Luebke pitched nine games before being released. He signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins, then landed with the Chicago White Sox for training camp the next year before calling it quits.
Photo from Associated Press
Coldwater grad Kyle Heyne, seen here pitching for the Grand Lake Mariners, was drafted out of Ball State by the San Diego Padres in 2008.
Back in spring training 2009, Luebke crossed paths with Coldwater grad Kyle Heyne.
Heyne was drafted in 2007 by the Twins but didn't sign, going back to Ball State and setting a Mid-American Conference record with 32 career saves. In 2008, he was taken by the Padres.
"The little bit that I did get to share a locker room with Cory at spring training, that was pretty neat," Heyne said. "We'd known each other since we were really young, our dads used to play softball against each other every week."
Heyne became a top reliever in college when he changed his delivery.
At Coldwater, he threw sidearm occasionally, influenced by pitching coach Chad Wells. Ball State pitching coach Mike Stafford had him throw sidearm full-time.
"He was a sidearm guy from the left side," Heyne said. "We started working on it that way, and ever since that, I threw sidearm. That was the key for me, I guess."
Out of eligibility, Heyne took a $1,000 signing bonus from the Padres and went to rookie ball in Arizona before moving up to Eugene.
After five years in college, he was older than most of his teammates, many of whom signed as teenagers from Latin America.
"At that time, I spoke Spanish pretty well, so I could communicate with them," he said. "But I think the biggest thing was just seeing how those younger guys coming from the Dominican and Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, how well they handle themselves after a bad at-bat. You didn't see a lot of throwing the bat, throwing the helmet. They took it as a job. They respected it a lot more than even we did in high school."
That year, he threw 41 2/3 innings with a 4.19 ERA, playing with future big-leaguers Anthony Bass and Mat Latos as well as Ball State teammate Dean Anna, who went on to play 13 games in the majors.
Heyne expected to move up to Fort Wayne in 2009, but instead he was cut on the last day of spring training. He ended up in the Northern League with the Gary RailCats, facing guys who had made it to Double-A or Triple-A.
"We had two guys that had been at least on a 40-man roster or actually seen some big league time," he said. "So just facing guys that really knew how to play the game and picked up on things, that was probably the biggest challenge."
Heyne had a 4.10 ERA over 48 1/3 innings in one season with Gary before hanging up his spikes.
Photo from Associated Press
Nick Thwaits, drafted out of Fort Recovery in 2018, played five seasons in the San Diego Padres' organization.
After Luebke and Heyne, there was a long gap before another MAC player was drafted. In 2018, Fort Recovery's Nick Thwaits also went to the Padres.
Thwaits had scouts watching him pitch in the Bo Jackson Elite travel league. With Fort Recovery, he went to the state semifinals in 2016.
"Getting to Columbus' stadium, I remember thinking it was the biggest stadium ever," he said. "And then coming back to it after I had played in pro ball, I was like, 'Man, this thing is actually pretty small.' "
Thwaits worked out on the Padres' mound before the draft, then went in the 15th round.
Committed to Kent State before the year, he only made his decision and signed with the Padres two hours before the deadline.
"The big thing for me was being able to say that, hey. I I took my chance," he said. "I played professional baseball, and I had my shot. Where if you go to college, you know, anything can happen. Injuries, off the field incidents can happen, where you never got that opportunity again."
The next day, Thwaits was in the Arizona League. Two months after his last game with Fort Recovery, he made his pro debut with only two other players on the field who spoke English.
"My coach said that they could tell I was nervous," he said. "That's all they could hear was me pounding the backstop in the bullpen, just missing the catcher.
"I actually pitched pretty well," he added. "I don't remember the run-in from the bullpen, I don't remember any of that, but I do remember I had a pretty good outing."
Thwaits went to Tri-City in 2019, then up to Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne. Late in 2022, he pitched a game with Double-A San Antonio.
In his career, he faced Corbin Carroll, Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz.
"It was crazy," Thwaits said of De La Cruz. "I actually saw him strike out on a pitch in between his legs. And then the next thing you know, he's in Double-A, and just dominating in the big leagues this year."
Thwaits played with Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore in 2023 before retiring in August. He finished with a 4.74 ERA in 294 innings.
Since leaving baseball, Stammen took up a role in the Padres front office. Luebke settled in San Diego, while Heyne came back to Coldwater and coaches his daughters in youth softball. Thwaits went back to school and is working on his commercial pilot's license.
"For however little we got paid," said Heyne, "it's still the best job I ever had."
