The 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline is near and many teams are now gearing up for a grueling pennant race. As the Whitecaps near the end of their Cape League season, multiple alumni are excelling in the pros.
Here’s our final alumni update of the summer, highlighting five former Whitecaps dazzling on the professional level.
Tyson Miller - Chicago Cubs
Following his sophomore season at California Baptist, Miller appeared in five games for Brewster in the summer of 2015. He was stellar, recording a 1.44 ERA and 0.880 WHIP in 25 innings.
He struck out 29 and walked just six that summer, propelling himself into a fourth-round pick (the highest in CBU history) in the following year’s draft. After years in the Minor Leagues and bouncing around in a few MLB organizations, Miller made his way back to the Chicago Cubs, the team that originally drafted him.
On May 14, Miller was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Cubs. Since then, he’s been one of the best arms in their bullpen, recording a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings. Similar to his numbers with the Whitecaps, he’s struck out 22 batters while walking just three. Back in the Cubs organization, Miller seems to have found himself nine summers after his time in Brewster.
Brent Rooker - Oakland Athletics
In 2023, Rooker earned his first MLB All-Star Game appearance, finishing the year with a career-high 30 home runs. A year later, Rooker’s having an even better season, recording 25 home runs and 75 RBI in 93 games.
After appearing in two games for the Whitecaps in 2015, Rooker returned in 2016 in a long-term role, tallying 22 RBI and a .305 batting average in 35 games. Rooker’s CCBL success propelled him into a monster junior season at Mississippi State, recording a 1.306 OPS with 23 home runs.
Rooker was drafted in the first round in the 2017 draft by the Minnesota Twins and has played five seasons in the Major Leagues since then. The recent success with Oakland has transformed him into one of the premier designated hitters in the American League, making him one of the best Brewster alumni currently in the big leagues.
Austin Voth - Seattle Mariners
Voth appeared in 21 games for the Whitecaps across the 2011-12 summers. In those summers between his time at the University of Washington, he recorded a 3.43 ERA in 63 innings. With an 11.7 SO/9, Voth emerged as a highly touted prospect.
He was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 Draft by the Washington Nationals and made his MLB debut in 2018. Since then, Voth has totaled over four years of service time, and after 25 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2023, he signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.
This season with Seattle, he’s played a key role in the Mariners bullpen that is fighting for the AL West crown. In 43 innings, Voth has tallied a 3.35 ERA with an impressive 0.860 WHIP. With 41 strikeouts on the season, Voth has been impressive with the Mariners 12 summers after his last appearance in the Cape, building upon two summers of valuable experience with Brewster.
Scott Alexander - Oakland Athletics
After five starts with Brewster in the 2009 summer, Alexander has made a career as a reliable left-hander out of the bullpen. His stint with the Whitecaps was short-lived but he was extremely impressive, pitching over six innings four times.
Alexander was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round of the 2010 Draft and has played for the Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants at the Major League level. His most productive season came in 2017 when he recorded a 2.48 ERA in 69 innings of work.
Now in his 10th big league season, Alexander is thriving with the A’s. So far, he’s recorded a 2.82 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. Fifteen summers after his time with the Whitecaps, Alexander has become one of the longest-tenured professional players to have once played in Brewster.
Scott Kingery - Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A)
Between his sophomore and junior seasons with Arizona, Kingery joined the Whitecaps in the 2014 summer, recording 39 hits and a .312 average. Kingery brought his advanced hit tool back to college and hit .342 in his junior season, helping him to get drafted in the second round of the 2015 Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Because of his success in the Minor Leagues, Kingery earned a six-year, $24 million deal before appearing in an MLB game. He became a focal point of the Phillies roster from 2018-20, but injuries and inconsistency limited his time in MLB.
Kingery is still within the Phillies organization but is now excelling in Triple-A with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. This season, he’s batting .264 with 19 home runs and 48 RBI. In the Majors, he was used all over the diamond but has primarily played shortstop in 2024, recording a .950 fielding percentage and continuing his professional career.
Photo credit: Whitecaps Media
