Pro Beavs: Postseason Baseball Will Be Filled With Beavers
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Six of the 12 MLB Playoff spots have been clinched. With less than a week until the postseason officially begins, here is a look at who among Oregon State's many alumni in the majors are ready to help their teams chase a pennant and a World Series ring.
Travis Bazzana - Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland has gotten hot at exactly the right time. This time last month, they trailed the White Sox by multiple games for the division lead. The Guardians currently sit in first place in the AL-Central, with six regular season games remaining. At this point, absolute disaster would have to strike for Cleveland to not make the postseason. In their crucial series win over CWS last week, Bazzana put together a massive two-homer game in the second of that series. The Australian has been struggling at the plate since then, getting a hit in just one of his last 14 at-bats. There is still plenty to play for, as the White Sox are just a single game behind in the division race. The Guardians start a huge three-game set against the Red Sox this afternoon, and every plate appearance is now important as they go for better playoff positioning. This could be a crucial time for Bazzana to regain his rhythm.
Drew Rasmussen - Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have locked down the AL East, fighting off a late surge from the Yankees. A lot of Tampa's regular-season success can be attributed to their ace in Rasmussen, who holds a 2.83 ERA and a 16-5 W-L record on the year. In his most recent start, the coaching staff was cautious with his pitch count, pulling him after 76 tosses against Oakland to save his arm for October. Prior to Tuesday night, Rasmussen had allowed just two earned runs in his last 19 innings pitched.
Adley Rutschman - Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are heading back to the postseason, navigating their way through a difficult schedule stretch in the back-half of the season. Boston certainly feels secure behind the plate with Rutschman as their catcher, giving a feeling of defensive security. The former national champion's bat hasn't been quite as impressive in 2026, though he has recorded a hit in each of his last three starts. Rutschman's only playoff trip so far in his career wasn't a good one, and he'll have a lot of motivation this October.
Steven Kwan - Cleveland Guardians
More of the same from the two-time All-Star, who just keeps raking in the hits. Kwan was crucial during Cleveland's important sweep of the A's, recording five hits in the last two games of that series. The Guardians are now they are fighting to win the division, with a wild card spot nearly certain at this point.
Michael Conforto - Chicago Cubs
The seasoned veteran has been playing good baseball as of late in his starting role for the Cubs, who are almost certain to make the postseason with a magic number now of one. Conforto went 3-4 against Cincinnati a few nights ago, and homered on Sunday. He has not played in the postseason since 2015 with the Mets, and this will be a big opportunity for Conforto.
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.