ROCKLAND, Mass. (September 26, 2025) 一 Nine former Futures League players are listed on 40-man rosters of five of the 12 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams that qualified for the Postseason. The action begins Tuesday with the best-of-three Wild Card Round.
The league’s contingent includes two active New York Yankees in catcher/first baseman Ben Rice (Worcester ’19-’20) and pitcher Cam Schlittler (Nashua ’19), who will go up against the archrival Boston Red Sox in an American League Wild Card Series in the Bronx.
Rice hit .255 with a career-high 26 home runs and 65 RBI in his first full major league season. The 2020 Futures League Most Valuable Player out of Dartmouth College has hit half of his homers in tying or go-ahead situations, including two in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Fifty-eight of Rice’s 119 total hits have gone for extra bases.
Schlittler was recalled for his MLB debut in July and has had posted an impressive rookie campaign to date, going 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts. The Northeastern University product, who is lined up to pitch an if-necessary Game 3 in the Wild Card Series on Thursday, worked seven shutout innings in a Thursday win over Baltimore. The Yankees have won each of his last four starts.
In the National League, former Boston College standout and two-time Futures League Top Pro Prospect Sal Frelick (North Shore ’18,’20) is the starting right fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched the best record in baseball at 97-65. Frelick carries a career-best .288 average with 12 homers, 63 RBI and 19 stolen bases into October. The reigning Gold Glove winner has also showed off his defensive prowess again, ranking second in the majors with 10 outfield assists.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw (Worcester ’20-’21) began his rookie year in Tokyo and ends it in the Postseason, having taken on a near-everyday role since he was re-recalled from Triple-A Iowa in mid-May. A 2023 first-round pick out of the University of Maryland, Shaw homered twice in his last seven games to reach 44 RBI and became first rookie with at least 10 homers and 10 stolen bases in 2025.
The Cubs also added an alum to their bullpen late in the season in Futures League Hall of Famer Aaron Civale (Worcester ’14), who was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in September. Civale went 1-0 with one save and a 2.08 ERA in five outings with Chicago prior to the postseason. He struck out 14 and allowed just seven hits in that span. The Connecticut native has also made October appearances for Cleveland in 2022 and Milwaukee in 2024.
After missing all of 2024 due to injury, Frelick’s college teammate Emmet Sheehan (Bristol ’18, New Britain ’20) has come back strong for the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers and will look to impact his second career Postseason run. Sheehan is 6-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts) this season. He matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts in seven innings of one-hit ball in his Sept. 21 start against the San Francisco Giants.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy (Bristol ’18) was recalled to the majors for this past weekend’s series in Boston and hit safely twice to help the team clinch a second straight AL playoff berth.
Reigning World Series champion Ben Casparius (New Britain ’20) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and fellow right-hander Gavin Hollowell (Nashua ’16) of the Chicago Cubs are also on their respective teams’ 40-man rosters, having last appeared in big league games about a month ago. After making a start in the World Series last fall, Casparius primarily pitched in relief over 46 appearances this season.
Casparius became the second league alum to win a World Series title in 2024, joining Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (Torrington ’15). Peña was the ALCS and World Series MVP as a rookie in 2022 and reached the Postseason in each of the first three years of his career.
A single-season record seven former Futures Leaguers, including Shaw and Schlittler, made MLB debuts in 2025, bringing the league’s all-time count of alumni in the majors to 31.
For the latest Futures League news and information throughout the year, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow the league’s Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram pages.