Gulls Alum Makes MLB Debut
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chuck Paiva
September 20, 2021 President & General Manager
401-845-6832// gm@newportgulls.com
Picture Credit: Kansas City Royals
Gulls Alum Makes MLB Debut
2017 RHP Heasley 27th Gull to Reach MLB
NEWPORT, R.I. – As the Major League Baseball regular season comes to an end, the Kansas City Royals find themselves nearly 20 games out of first place in the American League Central Division. Regardless of their playoff status, a dream was realized for 2017 Newport Gull Jon Heasley on Friday, September 17 when he made his Major League debut, starting against the Seattle Mariners.
Heasley attended Oklahoma State University and joined the Newport Gulls after his freshman season in Stillwater, OK in 2017. A highly touted recruit out of Dallas, Texas, Heasley was ranked as the 52nd best right-handed pitcher in the country by Perfect Game. He immediately made an impact as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, pitching in 38 innings his freshman season and striking out 31 opposing batters with an electric 90+ mph fastball and wipeout slider.
Upon arriving in Newport, Manager Al Leyva used Heasley primarily out of the bullpen, starting two of his nine appearances that summer. He struck out 20 hitters in 18.1 innings of work, including five games where he let up one run or less.
After returning to Oklahoma St., Heasley was a key member of the Cowboy rotation, ending the season with 80 innings pitched in 15 appearances, all of which starts. His most dominant outing came in his final collegiate game, hurling a complete game where he struck out nine batters and allowed no earned runs against the University of South Florida on June 2, 2018. The next game Heasley would pitch was his first professional appearance for the Kansas City Royals Minor League Rookie Ball Affiliate Idaho Falls Chukars after being selected in the 13th Round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
He impressed the Royals organization during his time in Rookie Ball during 2018 and was promoted to the Single- A Lexington Legends for the 2019 campaign, shining for the eventual South Atlantic League Champions as a top starter, earning Lexington’s Pitcher of the Year honors. Heasley held batters to a .222 batting average and completed the year with a 3.12 ERA over 112.2 innings pitched, where he struck out 120 batters. This stellar season resulted in Heasley rising the Royals Top Prospects List and starting the 2021 Season in Double- A, ranked as the 13th Best Prospect in the Kansas City organization.
With the Royals experiencing a few injuries down the stretch, Heasley got the call to start against the Seattle Mariners after starting 21 games for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, once again striking out 120 opposing batters, but this time in 105.1 Double-A innings.
His start on Friday lasted four innings and included two strikeouts, unfortunately receiving the loss after the Royals fell 6-2. Heasley is the 27th Gull to reach the Major Leagues and the second in recent years to debut for the Kansas City Royals; 2016 Gull Kris Bubic (Stanford) is currently a key starter for the team.
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The Newport Gulls, members of the 13-team New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded as the Rhode Island Gulls in 1998 in Cranston, R.I., before moving to Newport in 2001. In addition to recruiting, fielding, and developing a team of the nation’s top collegiate baseball athletes and attracting 50,000 fans annually to Cardines Field, the predominantly volunteer organization strives to benefit the community of Newport County via summer camps, reading programs, fundraisers, scholarships, and charitable donations – totaling over $1 million since 2001. The Gulls are six-time champions of the NECBL – the winningest franchise in league history – and were ranked as the overall No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the country by Perfect Game USA in 2012.
For more information about the Newport Gulls, visit facebook.com/newportgulls, follow the Gulls on Twitter @NewportGulls or visit www.newportgulls.com.
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