With the 2025 MLB season just around the corner, many former Cal Poly Mustangs are gearing up to begin another year of baseball.
Here is where a few of the baseball alumni will be starting their season.
Brooks Lee won Big West field player of the year in both of his full two seasons at Cal Poly in 2021 and 2022. He was awarded the Brooks Wallace as the nation’s top shortstop in 2022 and was also named an All-American by numerous publications both in 2021 and 2022.
Drafted eighth in 2022, the highest ever for a Mustang, Lee made his debut in 2024 for the Minnesota Twins after hitting .331 in the minor leagues, providing some depth for an injured infield core. He was expected to parlay that into a spot on the 2025 Opening Day roster, potentially at second base.
With Royce Lewis going down with a hamstring injury, that roster spot was all but penciled in. Unfortunately for Lee, back spasms have sent him to the Injured List (IL) for the first couple of weeks of the season. Once healthy, Lee is expected to join the Twins at the big-league level.
Despite a seemingly unappealing 6.49 college ERA and Tommy John surgery that ended his 2021 college season, Bryan Woo was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB draft and quickly worked his way to a 2023 callup.
Woo was part of the best rotation in baseball with the Seattle Mariners in 2024. He missed some time with a hamstring strain and forearm discomfort that canceled a potential showdown with a debuting Drew Thorpe (more on him later).
Woo’s fastball was one of the best in the majors, leading him to a 2.89 ERA. With a clean bill of health heading into 2025, he looks to continue his growth as a top-end starter.
Ryan Stafford was a finalist for the Buster Posey Award in 2024, awarded to the best catcher in collegiate baseball, and was the first finalist in program history. Drafted to Baltimore in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, he worked his way up to high-A in just 25 games in the farm system.
Despite catching exclusively in his final season at Cal Poly he bounced around the diamond in his short stint, playing second base along with some outfield. He will continue to work up through the Baltimore minor league system.
Much like Brooks Lee, Drew Thorpe won Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2022 to go along with All-American nods. He pitched to a 10-1 record his final season as a Mustang, which made him a second round selection by the New York Yankees.
Thorpe was part of two important offseason trades heading into the 2024 season. First it was included in the Juan Soto deal that sent Thorpe to the San Diego Padres, then the Dylan Cease trade that sent Thorpe to the southside of Chicago.
It was with the White Sox that his plus changeup earned him a June call-up to the majors. Hitters ended up with a .167 batting average against his changeup, and he ended the season with a 5.48 ERA in 47 innings of work.
Thorpe was scheduled to be a starter for the White Sox in 2025, but Tommy John surgery will delay his sophomore season until 2026.
Both Jakob Wright (4th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Steven Brooks (11th round, Boston Red Sox) were taken in the 2024 draft, but neither made appearances in minor league play.
Wright was sidelined with injury for his first and part of his second seasons, but in 2024, he took over the Friday starting role and was dominant. He had a 9-3 record with a 2.93 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 88 innings.
Brooks was a starter all three years for the Mustangs, working his way up to a weekend starter in his final season. His best start came in his 2024 season debut, where he struck out 12 while giving up two runs in seven innings.
Both will make their debuts in their respective systems in 2025.
Jake Steels had a breakout senior season in center field for the Mustangs in 2024. After hitting .320 the prior year, he hit .380 while flirting with a .400 average for the majority of the season while committing zero errors in the field.
Steels was drafted in 2024 by the Atlanta Braves, and got some at bats with the single-A team in Augusta. He will continue his journey through the Braves minor league system.
Other former Mustangs in the minor leagues include Derek True (Astros), Justin Bruihl (Blue Jays), Myles Emmerson (Angels), Taylor Dollard (Mariners), Bryce Warrecker (Yankees), Andrew Alvarez (Nationals) and current free agent Mitch Haniger.
