Futures League in MLB Count Reaches 26 as Svanson Debuts with Cardinals

ROCKLAND, Mass. 一 Former Brockton Rox pitcher Matt Svanson became the 26th all-time Futures League alum to appear in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, working a scoreless inning in his Thursday night debut with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Svanson began the 2025 season as the No. 20 prospect in the Cardinals organization according to Baseball America, and with his outing against the New York Mets at Citi Field, became the first player or pitcher to debut for St. Louis this season. He was acquired by St. Louis in a 2023 trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, who originally drafted him in 2021 as a 13th-round pick out of Lehigh University.

The 26-year-old from Hawthorn Woods, Ill., has made his mark in the bullpen as a professional, leading all of Minor League Baseball with a streak of 38 consecutive converted save opportunities since May 23, 2023. His run is tied for the third-longest since MiLB records date back to 2005. The last 32 of those have come with the Cardinals, including 27 last season which were the most by a Baseball America-ranked prospect.

Following an offseason stint in the Arizona Fall League, Svanson pitched just 5.2 innings in four games for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds this season before being recalled to St. Louis on Wednesday. He struck out four and allowed just one run on three hits with Memphis.

The right-hander pitched for Brockton in 2019, earning Futures League All-Star and second-team All-Futures League honors by posting a 3-1 record, one save, a team-leading 1.45 ERA and 47 strikeouts (tied for eighth-most in the league) across 43.1 innings that summer. He made 10 appearances and five starts for the Rox.

Svanson earned his draft call after posting a breakout senior season at Lehigh two years later in 2021, leading the Patriot League with a 2.30 ERA while striking out 65 batters in 70.1 innings. He made his pro debut with the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays that summer and reached the High-A Vancouver Canadians the next season. Following his trade to St. Louis, Svanson made his Cardinals organizational debut with Double-A Springfield later in 2023 and remained there for all of 2024.

After 2024 marked the third consecutive MLB season in which six Futures League alums debuted, Svanson is already the second to do so in the early goings of this season after former University of Maryland star Matt Shaw (Worcester '20-'21) played for the Chicago Cubs in the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series last month. League products have now played for 24 of the 30 MLB clubs all-time, as Svanson is the first-ever to appear for the Cardinals.

Svanson is the eighth of 27 former Futures Leaguers drafted in 2021 alone to make his MLB debut. He joins the likes of Milwaukee Brewers Gold Glove-winning outfielder Sal Frelick (North Shore '18, '20) 一 the league's highest-ever draft pick before Shaw at No. 15 overall, as well as a World Series champion for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Ben Casparius (New Britain '20), and New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (Worcester '19-'20).

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