These Delaware baseball players are in the big leagues or close as 2025 season starts
Baseball beckons again and the 2025 season provides important opportunities for players with Delaware connections.
Two are expected to return to the big-league clubs where they’ve been. Several others are on the cusp while demonstrating their potential at the minor-league level or in previous call-ups.
These are players with Delaware connections to watch as the major- and minor-league seasons commence:
Brett Callahan, OF, Detroit Tigers
Callahan has played just two minor-league seasons thus far, so the former Newark Charter and St. Joseph’s standout still has a long climb ahead. But he did get two spring at-bats for the Tigers and will likely start the 2025 season at High-A West Michigan. Callahan has batted .287 with an .812 OPS since being a 13th-round draft pick by Detroit in 2023.
Jake Fraley, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Fraley had career highs playing in 116 games and batting .277 in his sixth MLB season last year. He remains a multi-tooled threat, capable of hitting with power or stealing a base while hitting mostly against right-handed pitchers. He didn’t threaten his 2023 career highs of 15 homers and 65 RBI last year. Fraley was also coping with off-the-field concerns after he and wife Angelica’s 6-year-old daughter Avery was diagnosed with leukemia and undergoing treatment though the cancer is in remission. Platoon duty appears imminent again for the former Caravel Academy and LSU star, who has a .786 career OPS against right-handed pitching compared to .504 versus southpaws.
Mason Fluharty, P, Toronto Blue Jays
Fluharty is poised to become Delaware’s next big leaguer after a strong 2024 Triple-A season and productive spring. He threw seven Grapefruit League innings, struck out 11 with just one walk and had a 1.29 ERA. A Cape Henlopen grad and the Blue Jays’ fifth-round 2022 draft pick out of Liberty University, Fluharty was 5-4 with a 3.63 ERA with three saves in 56 relief appearances at Buffalo last year. The lefty is 9-10 with a 3.47 ERA in 114 minor-league appearances, all in relief, with 172 strikeouts in 140 innings.
Zack Gelof, 2B, Athletics
Gelof couldn’t match his rookie numbers after a 2023 summer call-up that included being August AL Rookie of the Month, a .267 average and .841 OPS plus 14 homers in 69 games. As the A’s full-time second baseman last year, Gelof batted just .211 with a .632 OPS, 17 home runs and an AL high 188 strikeouts. That makes this a potentially pivotal year for the Rehoboth Beach resident, who was 2018 Delaware High School Player of the Year after sparking Cape Henlopen to its first state title and Oakland’s 2021 second-round pick out of Virginia. Gelof showed progress this spring batting .297 in Cactus League games. But he was hit by a pitch that severely bruised his hand last week that could force him to start the season on the injured list.
Chad Kuhl, P, Atlanta Braves
The 32-year-old Kuhl is now with the Atlanta Braves and will start the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He returned to playing last year after his 2023 season was cut short due to wife Amanda’s cancer treatments. He made 31 appearances with one start for the White Sox and went 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA. Kuhl was also 1-3 with a 4.34 ERA in 13 games (11 starts) with Triple-A Charlotte and will hope the ability to get batters out earns a promotion to Atlanta when the need arises. The former Middletown and Delaware ace is 31-47 in eight MLB seasons with a 4.98 ERA in 174 games.
Ron Marinaccio, P, San Diego Padres
After spending his first seven pro seasons in the Yankees system, former Blue Hen Marinaccio now tries to earn a spot in the Padres’ bullpen. He was signed by the White Sox late last season after being designated for assignment by the Yankees, then DFA’d by Chicago before being dealt to San Diego. As spring training neared its conclusion, Marinaccio was reportedly in the running for the final available spot in the Padres’ bullpen after pitching 10 2/3 innings over nine games with a 7.59 ERA. Marinaccio appeared in 101 games, all in relief, the last three seasons for New York, going 6-5 with a 3.22 ERA and two saves. He often shuttled between Yankee Stadium and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The right-hander has 137 strikeouts in 114 2/3 MLB innings.
Colin Peluse, P, Athletics
The Middletown grad remains with the Athletics, who drafted him in the ninth round in 2019 from Wake Forest. Struggles at Triple-A Las Vegas last year after a May call-up – an 8.53 ERA in five games – moved him back down to Double-A Midland, where Peluse was much better, going 4-3 with a 2.05 ERA on the season. The right-hander has a 26-15 record in 128 MILB appearances. He appeared in three Cactus League games for the A’s and had a 9.00 ERA.
Brandon Walter, P, Houston Astros
The former Hodgson Vo-Tech and Blue Hens ace pitched 23 innings in nine games for the Red Sox in 2023 with a 6.26 ERA. But he missed 2024 with a left shoulder strain and was released and signed to a minor-league deal by Houston. Walter had a 5.14 ERA in in four spring appearances covering seven innings and starts the 2025 season at Triple-A Sugar Land. Walter has a 15-13 record and 3.61 ERA in 70 MILB games with 43 starts and has whiffed 334 in 274 1/3 innings.
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware baseball players in MLB and MILB as 2025 season starts
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