Thursday is officially MLB opening day, and two former Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players are lucky enough to be spending the day on major league rosters. Jake Meyers of the Houston Astros and Aaron Bummer of the Chicago Whitesox are from two different eras of Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball but they’re both doing something that plenty of Huskers both past and present are likely jealous of.
The real question might just be how many other former Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players will eventually join them before the end of the 2023 season.
Bummer has been around a while and has spent his entire career so far with the Chicago Whitesox. He’s coming off one of his best seasons in the major leagues in 2022, though he didn’t appear in as many games as the reliever might have liked.
In 32 games pitched, Bummer post a 2-1 record with a 2.36 earned run average. Bummer had 10 holds and two saves and struck out 30 batters over 32 innings.
Interestingly, Bummer could eventually be joined by another former Nebraska Cornhuskers star. It’s expected that pitcher Kyle Kubat will start the year with the Whitesox’s AAA club, the Charlotte Knights.
Pair of former Nebraska Cornhuskers start MLB season in the Bigs
While Bummer has settled into a career as a middle reliever, Jake Meyers is hoping that he can still turn into a major league baseball star after two decent, but short seasons with the Houston Astros.
Meyers was first called up in the late summer of 2021 and he hit .260 with six home runs. Last year, injuries and struggles at the plate meant that the former Huskers played in just 52 games.
This year, the Astros are hoping Meyers can stay healthy and be an impact player. He’s starting the season on with the Major League club for the first time in his short career. While he’s opening the season as the backup centerfield behind Chas McCormick, it feels like the former Nebraska Cornhuskers star could get some extra playing time early in the season as the Astros are a bit banged up.