Ten Former Indians Highlight 2024 MLB Postseason Rosters

INDIANAPOLIS – Four best-of-three Wild Card series kick off the 2024 Major League Baseball postseason today, with 10 former Indianapolis Indians scattered across seven of the clubs fighting for a World Series championship.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

New York Yankees (94-68, No. 1 seed)

Player(s): RHP Gerrit Cole (2012-14, 2016), RHP Clay Holmes (2017-19)

Cole, 34, owns a lifetime record of 10-6 with a 2.93 ERA (34er/104.1ip), 0.95 WHIP and 134 strikeouts in 17 postseason starts. After spending the first five years of his major league career with the Pirates, he was traded to Houston following the 2017 season in exchange for right-handers Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, infielder Colin Moran and outfielder Jason Martin, and then signed with the Yankees as a free agent on Dec. 18, 2019. After winning his first career Cy Young Award in 2023 as the American League leader in ERA (2.63), starts (33) and innings pitched (209.0) with an MLB-leading 0.98 WHIP, Cole began the 2024 campaign on the 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. In his injury-shortened regular season, he went 8-5 with a 3.14 ERA (36er/95.0ip) and 99 strikeouts in 17 starts. As the first overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, Cole quickly made his way to Indianapolis where he compiled a 9-4 record and 2.59 ERA (30er/104.1ip) in 19 starts over parts of four seasons.

Holmes, 31, was named to his second career MLB All-Star Game in 2024 after recording the third-most saves (21) among American League leaders during the first half of the season. In 67 regular-season appearances with the Yankees, he went 3-5 with a career-high 30 saves, 3.14 ERA (22er/63.0ip) and 68 strikeouts. Holmes was traded from Pittsburgh to New York (AL) on July 26, 2021, in exchange for infielders Hoy Park and Diego Castillo. Since going 5-7 with a 5.57 ERA (74er/119.2ip) and 122 strikeouts in 91 outings (four starts) across four years with Pittsburgh, Holmes has gone 19-15 with 74 saves, a 2.69 ERA (65er/217.2ip) and 238 strikeouts in 220 games across four years with New York (AL). Holmes has not allowed a run over six MLB postseason appearances (8.0 innings) from 2021-22. He made 57 appearances (40 starts) with Indianapolis over the course of three seasons and went 20-9 with a 3.58 ERA (89er/223.2ip) and 212 strikeouts.

Coach(es): Manager Aaron Boone (1997-99)

Baltimore Orioles (91-71, No. 4 seed)

Player(s): RHP Colin Selby (2022-24)

Selby, 26, has bounced between Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Baltimore in 2024. After beginning the season on Indianapolis’ Opening Day roster, he was designated for assignment by the Pirates and logged a 2.57 ERA (2er/7.0ip) and five strikeouts between the Royals (two games) and Orioles (three games) while making 36 appearances with Triple-A Omaha (18 games) and Triple-A Norfolk (18 games). Selby appeared in 21 games (five starts) with Pittsburgh after making his MLB debut in 2023 and went 2-2 with a 9.00 ERA (24er/24.0ip) and 30 strikeouts. In 33 career appearances with Indianapolis, he went 0-1 with six saves, a 3.57 ERA (14er/35.1ip) and 45 strikeouts. This will be his first MLB postseason appearance and second professional baseball playoff experience since tossing 3.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in the 2021 High-A East Championship Series with Greensboro.

Coach(es): Coach José Hernández (2000, 2007)

Kansas City Royals (86-76, No. 5 seed)

Player(s): INF Adam Frazier (2016-18)

Frazier, 32, was signed by Kansas City on Jan. 30 and was an effective bat off the bench for the Royals, hitting .286 (6-for-21) with three doubles and three RBI in 28 plate appearances as a pinch hitter. In 104 games, he hit .202 (53-for-262) with 10 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 22 RBI. He appeared in 103 games with the Indians across three seasons and hit .301 (118-for-392) with 28 extra-base hits. Frazier has appeared in seven postseason games with Seattle (2022, five games) and Baltimore (2023, two games) with a .179 batting average (5-for-28) and one RBI.

Coach(es): First Base Coach Damon Hollins (1999-2000)

Detroit Tigers (86-76, No. 6 seed)

Coach(es): First Base Coach Anthony Iapoce (2000)

The Cleveland Guardians (92-69, No. 2 seed) and Houston Astros (88-73, No. 3 seed) do not have any former Indianapolis Indians on their respective coaching staffs or postseason rosters.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Milwaukee Brewers (93-69, No. 3 seed)

Player(s): RHP Nick Mears (2021-22)

Mears, 27, made a career-high 54 appearances between Colorado (41) and Milwaukee (13) this season, going 1-5 with a 5.93 ERA (38er/57.2ip) and 75 strikeouts. Following three seasons in Pittsburgh (2020-22) in which he went 1-0 with a 4.75 ERA (16er/30.1ip) and 32 strikeouts, he spent one full season with Colorado before being traded to Milwaukee on July 27. In 40 career outings with Indianapolis, Mears went 3-3 with a 4.98 ERA (24er/43.1ip) and 52 strikeouts. This will be his first career postseason appearance at any level.

Coach(es): Hitting Coach Ozzie Timmons (1997-98)

San Diego Padres (93-69, No. 4 seed)

Player(s): RHP Joe Musgrove (2018), C Elias Díaz (2014-17, 2019)

Musgrove, 31, battled through his second consecutive injury-shortened season but is ready for October. In 19 starts with San Diego, he went 6-5 with a 3.88 ERA (43er/99.2ip) and 101 strikeouts. His best stretch of the campaign came after returning from a stint on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and in nine starts since Aug. 12 went 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA (12er/50.1ip), 57 strikeouts, 0.87 WHIP and .195 batting average against (36-for-185). After making his MLB debut with Houston in 2016, Musgrove anchored the Pirates’ starting rotation from 2018-20 with an 18-26 record, 4.23 ERA (153er/325.1ip) and 312 strikeouts before being traded to San Diego in a three-team, seven-player deal that netted the Pirates catcher Endy Rodríguez, right-handers David Bednar and Drake Fellows, left-hander Omar Cruz and outfielder Hudson Head. His time in Pittsburgh included two rehab starts in Indianapolis with a 5.06 ERA (6er/10.2ip) and 11 strikeouts. Between Houston (2017) and San Diego (2022), Musgrove has gone 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA (12er/25.1ip) and 21 strikeouts in 10 postseason games (three starts).

Díaz, 33, began the 2024 season on Colorado’s Opening Day roster before being released in August and signing a minor league deal with San Diego to have his contract selected on Sept. 1. In 96 total games between the Rockies and Padres, he hit .265 (86-for-325) with 27 runs, 20 doubles, six home runs and 39 RBI. He began his big-league career with Pittsburgh from 2015-19, hitting .250 (187-for-749) with 82 runs, 40 doubles, 13 home runs and 82 RBI in 250 games. Díaz’s time with Pittsburgh included 192 games with Indianapolis, during which he hit .269 (188-for-699) with 65 runs, 33 doubles, four triples, six home runs and 88 RBI. This will be his first appearance in the MLB postseason and second playoff appearance of his professional career, the first coming in 2009 with the Venezuelan Summer League Pirates.

Coach(es): Catching Coach Brian Esposito (Indians Manager 2018-19, 2021)

Atlanta Braves (89-73, No. 5 seed)

Player(s): RHP Jesse Chavez (2006-08), RHP Charlie Morton (2009-10, 2012-13, 2015)

Chavez, 41, began the season on Atlanta’s Opening Day roster after originally being re-signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason. In 46 appearances out of the bullpen, he went 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA (22er/63.1ip) and 55 strikeouts. He has allowed just two earned runs in 10.2 postseason innings with Chicago (2018) and Atlanta (2021-22). His 17-year major league career began in 2008 with the Pirates and since has included stops with Atlanta, Kansas City, Toronto, Oakland, Los Angeles (NL), Los Angeles (AL), Texas and Chicago (NL) while being included in 10 total trades, the most by any player in MLB history. Chavez made 109 appearances (one start) with Indianapolis over three seasons and went 7-10 with 16 saves, a 3.90 ERA (72er/166.0ip) and 150 strikeouts.

Morton, 40, made at least 30 regular-season starts for the fourth consecutive year, going 8-10 with a 4.19 ERA (77er/165.1ip) and 167 strikeouts in 30 outings. The seasoned veteran has an abundance of postseason experience from his time with Pittsburgh, Houston, Tampa Bay and Atlanta, going 7-5 with a 3.60 ERA (32er/80.0ip) and 92 strikeouts in 18 games (17 starts). After making his MLB debut with Atlanta in 2008, Morton returned to the Braves prior to the 2021 season and has since gone 45-34 with a 3.87 ERA (295er/686.1ip) and 771 strikeouts in 124 starts. Over parts of five years in Indianapolis, he went 5-6 with a 3.26 ERA (46er/127.0ip) in 22 starts.

Coach(es): Catching Coach Sal Fasano (2002)

New York Mets (89-73, No. 6 seed)

Player(s): OF Starling Marte (2012, 2014, 2017)

Marte, 35, returns to the MLB postseason for the sixth time in his career (also: Pittsburgh, 2013-15; Miami, 2020; New York [NL], 2022). In his third season with the Mets after signing a four-year deal in November 2021, the toolsy outfielder hit .269 (90-for-335) with 23 extra-base hits and 40 RBI in 94 games. In eight seasons with Pittsburgh from 2012-19, he hit .287 (1047-for-3647) with 108 homers and 239 stolen bases. He was traded to Arizona in January 2020 for infielder Liover Peguero, right-hander Brennan Malone and international bonus slot money and has since played for the Diamondbacks, Marlins, Athletics and Mets. Over parts of three seasons with Indy, Marte batted .284 (124-for-436) with an .831 OPS in 111 games.

Coach(es): First Base Coach Antoan Richardson (2016)

The Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64, No. 1 seed) and Philadelphia Phillies (95-67, No. 2 seed) do not have any former Indianapolis Indians on their respective coaching staffs or postseason rosters.