Baseball

Five ProHogs Headed to MLB Postseason

Oliver Grigg
Oliver Grigg October 7, 2022
ProHogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Five former Razorbacks are in this year’s Major League Baseball playoffs.

Pitcher Jalen Beeks (Tampa Bay Rays), outfielder Andrew Benintendi (New York Yankees), catcher James McCann (New York Mets), pitcher Ryne Stanek (Houston Astros) and pitcher Trevor Stephan (Cleveland Guardians) will have a shot at hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy with their respective teams this postseason.

Beeks, who pitched for the Hogs from 2013-14, has posted a 2.80 ERA over 61.0 innings in 42 games with seven starts this season for Tampa Bay. He and the Rays begin their playoff journey against Stephan and the Guardians in the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series at 11:07 a.m. CT Friday, Oct. 7, on ESPN.

Benintendi, who played at Arkansas from 2014-15 and won the 2015 Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, joined New York (AL) as a trade deadline acquisition from the Kansas City Royals and has slashed .304/.373/.399 with five homers and 51 runs batted in over 126 games this season. An All-Star selection for the first time in his career this year, he and the American League East champion Yankees will play the winner of Cleveland/Tampa Bay in the American League Division Series beginning Tuesday, Oct. 11.

McCann, who played at Arkansas from 2009-11, has hit three homers and driven in 18 runs over 61 games for the Mets this season while providing strong defense behind the dish. He and New York (NL) host the San Diego Padres in the best-of-three National League Wild Card Series, which begins at 7:07 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN.

Stanek, who pitched for the Razorbacks from 2011-13, broke Houston’s reliever record for the lowest ERA in a single season, posting a minuscule 1.15 ERA over 54.2 innings out of the bullpen this year. He and the American League West champion Astros will play the winner of Toronto/Seattle in the American League Division Series beginning next Tuesday.

Stephan, who pitched at Arkansas in 2017, has logged a 2.69 ERA in 63.2 innings of relief work for Cleveland this season. He and the Guardians go up against Beeks and the Rays in the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series.

Five former Hogs have won a World Series title. Dick Hughes (St. Louis Cardinals, 1967), Eric Hinske (Boston Red Sox, 2007/New York [AL], 2009), Dallas Keuchel (Houston, 2017), Benintendi (Boston, 2018) and Drew Smyly (Atlanta Braves, 2021) have each hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Stay up-to-date on all this year’s MLB postseason action at www.mlb.com/postseason.

For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).

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