With the 2026 Major League Baseball campaign underway, a total of 14 San Diego State University alumni were listed on professional rosters of affiliated baseball clubs as of April 17.
Former Aztec standouts Ty France, Casey Schmitt and Troy Melton headed that group with spots on MLB teams this season.
France (2013-15) had played in eight games with six starts thus far for the hometown San Diego Padres, batting 0.294 with one home run, one double and four runs scored. The Padres were 7-1 in games in which he’d played.
Last season, France earned a Rawlings Gold Glove award as a first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays and saw action in two games as a reserve in the 2025 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Schmitt (2018-20) had started all 14 games for the San Francisco Giants, posting a 0.306 batting average with one home run, five doubles, five runs scored and one stolen base. In 2025, he hit 0.237 with 12 home runs, 15 doubles and 40 RBI while appearing in 53 games at second base, 26 at third base and 18 at first base.
Melton (2019-22) opened the 2026 season on the 60-day injured list for the Detroit Tigers. He made his Major League debut last season, logging a 3-2 record with a 2.76 ERA and 36 strikeouts against 15 walks after pitching 45.2 innings across 16 games with four starts.
Melton was the winning pitcher in the Tigers’ 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the American League Division Series when he tossed three scoreless innings of relief, offsetting two hits and a walk with a trio of strikeouts.
Four former SDSU players are currently competing at the AAA level, including Cole Carrigg, Mike Jarvis, Wyatt Hendrie and Seby Zavala.
Carrigg (2021-23) had played in 16 games primarily as an outfielder for the Albuquerque Isotopes, the top farm team of the Colorado Rockies, hitting 0.294 with one home run, two triples, three doubles and 10 RBI. He led the Pacific Coast League with 10 stolen bases.
Last season, Carrigg batted 0.237 with 15 homers and 64 RBI for the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, ranking third in the Eastern League with 46 stolen bases.
Jarvis (2019-21) and Hendrie (2020-21) were both on the roster of the Indianapolis Indians, the top affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jarvis, who was assigned to Indianapolis from the AA Altoona Curve on April 5, had played in three games in the outfield for the Indians of the International League, batting 0.300 with one double, one RBI, two runs scored and three stolen bases.
Last season, Jarvis split time with the same two clubs, finishing with a combined 50 hits while adding three homers, nine doubles and 29 RBI. He also stole 25 bases and scored 39 runs.
Hendrie had appeared in just one game for Indianapolis thus far. In 2025, he played 40 games as a catcher and outfielder for Altoona, collecting 19 hits, three homers, a pair of doubles and 13 RBI.
Zavala (2012, 2014-15), meanwhile, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in February and was assigned to the Oklahoma City Comets of the Pacific Coast League. He had appeared in nine games for OKC in 2026, compiling five hits in 32 at-bats with a home run, triple and four RBI.
Last season, Zavala saw action in 67 games primarily as a catcher for the AAA Worcester Red Sox of the International League, where he batted 0.165 with eight homers, 11 doubles, 25 RBI and 28 runs scored.
In addition, former Aztecs Mike Paredes and Poncho Ruiz began this season at the AA level with the Minnesota Twins organization, joining Matt Rudick, who is a member of the New York Mets system.
Paredes (2019-21) had started two games on the mound for the Wichita Wind Surge of the Texas League this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 7.07 ERA and 21 strikeouts against one walk in 14.0 innings. Earlier, the right-handed hurler was named the Twins’ Minor League Co-Pitcher of the Week on April 13.
In 2025, Paredes registered a spotless 11-0 ledger with seven saves for the Wichita Wind Surge of the Texas League, compiling a 2.43 ERA with 91 strikeouts against 28 walks in 103.2 innings across 37 games. He also pitched two scoreless innings with one strikeout in a late-season call-up for the AAA St. Paul Saints against the Memphis Redbirds.
Ruiz, who was a teammate with Paredes for one season at SDSU in 2021, joined the Wind Surge this spring after a recent stint with Culiacan of the Mexican Pacific Winter League. He had appeared in four games for Wichita thus far, including a 1-for-3 performance against Arkansas on April 9.
In 2025, Ruiz split time with two other Class A teams in the Twins’ system, playing 88 games with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels of the Florida State League and the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League, batting a combined .254 with one homer, 23 doubles, 28 RBI and 41 runs scored.
Rudick (2018-21) had played six games in the outfield for the Eastern League’s Binghamton Rumble Ponies in 2026, collecting three hits in 16 at-bats with a pair of doubles and a run scored. Last season in an injury rehabilitation assignment, he appeared in three games with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones.
In 2024, Rudick saw action in 115 games for the Rumble Ponies, hitting .239 with eight homers, 41 RBI and 12 stolen bases. That season, he ranked fifth in the Eastern League with 27 doubles.
Rounding out the list of former SDSU players are T.J. Fondtain, Jadon Bercovich, Kelena Sauer and Xavier Cardenas III, who started the 2026 campaign at the High-A level.
Pitching in three games for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a South Atlantic League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, Fondtain (2020-23) sported a 1-0 record thus far with a 1.23 ERA and seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
He was limited to just 11 games for the Hot Rods due to injury last year (0-2, 7.71 ERA, 20 K) after pitching one scoreless inning for the AA Montgomery Biscuits.
Bercovich (2021-24) had reconnected with his former teammate Fondtain on the Bowling Green pitching staff. The right-handed hurler had yet to see action for the Hot Rods after he was placed on the seven-day injured list on April 2. Bercovich split time with the Rays’ Florida Complex League rookie team and the Charleston RiverDogs of the Carolina League in 2025, combining for a 1-0 record and a 2.45 ERA with 36 strikeouts and three saves in 25.2 innings across 20 games.
Sauer (2021-23) had appeared in three games for the Vancouver Canadians, a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate, logging an 0-2 record with a 4.50 ERA and five strikeouts this season. In 2023, he compiled a 2-1 record and a 3.86 ERA with 19 strikeouts for the A-level Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League.
Cardenas (2022-25) had pitched in eight games as a minor-leaguer, posting an 0-1 record with a 4.22 ERA, 13 strikeouts and one save across 10 2/3 innings. He had made two appearances thus far with the Beloit Sky Carp, a Midwest League affiliate of the Miami Marlins after pitching for the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League in 2025.
Submitted by Jim Solien/SDSU
