WICHITA, Kan. – Former Wichita State pitcher AJ Ladwig made his Major League Baseball debut on Saturday night, becoming the 42nd former Shocker to reach the game’s highest level.
The right-hander worked 3.1 innings out of the bullpen in Miami’s 6-2 loss to Atlanta, allowing six hits and four runs. He did not issue a walk or record a strikeout.
Ladwig was called up as the Marlins 27th man for the second game of the doubleheader. He had been pitching at Double-A Pensacola, where he was 6-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 11 starts.
The native of Omaha, Nebraska joins Alec Bohm of the Philadelphia Phillies and Sam Hilliard of the Colorado Rockies as former Shockers active in the Majors. He is the first Wichita State player to make his MLB debut since Codi Heuer did so for the Chicago White Sox in 2020.
Ladwig spent three seasons with the Shockers from 2012-14, developing into the club’s Friday night starter by his junior season. He was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2012, going 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA and one save in his debut campaign. Ladwig issued just eight walks in 63.0 innings, good for a 1.14 walks per nine innings that still stands as the lowest mark in school history.
After an up-and-down sophomore season, Ladwig bounced back in 2014 with one of the best starting pitcher seasons in Wichita State history, as he fashioned a spectacular 1.54 ERA over 15 starts to earn First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. It was the sixth-lowest single season ERA in program history. The first 14 starts of his season were quality starts, including five starts of six innings or more without allowing a run. The highlight of his season came on the road at Tulane on April 25, when he tossed nine shutout frames while punching out a season-high nine batters.
Ladwig finished his Shocker career with a 2.95 ERA, tied for the 18th-lowest among all Shocker pitchers. All told, he owns three of the top 11 best walks per nine innings seasons in the Shocker record book (1.14 – 1st, 1.46 – 8th, 1.58 – 11th). His career 1.42 walks per nine innings is the best mark in school history.
He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th Round of the 2014 MLB Draft, and steadily climbed the ladder in their minor league system over the course of seven seasons. Ladwig had brief stints at Triple-A Toledo in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022, but was released by the Tigers earlier this season. The Marlins quickly snapped up the righty, assigning him to Pensacola where he was pitching before receiving the call-up.