Former Auburn standout Garrett Cooper hits first postseason home run of MLB career

Miami Marlins first baseman Garrett Cooper has hit 21 regular-season home runs over his first four MLB seasons. None of them came on a bigger stage than his most recent homer.

On Friday, Cooper hit the first postseason home run of his big-league career. The former Auburn standout hit a solo homer off Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field.

Cooper, 29, is playing in the playoffs for the first time, as the Marlins finished second in the NL East during the shortened 60-game regular season and earned the No. 6 seed in the NL for the expanded 16-team postseason. Miami won Game 1 on Wednesday, so it was looking to earn a sweep in the best-of-three series on Friday.

After his time at Auburn, Cooper was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He was traded to the New York Yankees in July 2017 — making his MLB debut that season — before being dealt to Miami in November 2017.

Over the past three seasons with the Marlins, Cooper batted .277 with 21 home runs and 72 RBIs in 155 games. He’s now looking to help them make a deep playoff run in this unorthodox MLB season.

First postseason ? for @CoopaLoop1 is a BIG one!#WarEagle | #AUNextLevelpic.twitter.com/tLXatWjQra

— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) October 2, 2020

Jake Rill

Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.