19 players from SEC schools make MLB playoff rosters for Wild Card round
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The calendar still says September, but for baseball fans, “October” has arrived.
The 2026 MLB playoffs began Tuesday with the first games of the Wild Card round. Seeds 3-6 in the AL and NL are playing best-of-3 series. The top 4 seeds received a bye to the Divisional Series round.
The SEC has established itself as the top baseball conference, and it’s no surprise that the conference is well-represented with alumni from conference schools playing postseason baseball. Nineteen players from SEC schools made the teams’ 26-man rosters.
From a school perspective, Vanderbilt leads the way with 5 former players. Former Commodore Mike Yastrzemski had an RBI in the first game of the day, Atlanta’s 5-3 win over Philadelphia.
From an MLB team perspective, the Chicago White Sox hav the most former players from SEC schools with 5. All 8 clubs in the Wild Card round have at least 1 player from an SEC school.
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Here’s the full list, sorted by MLB team, released by the SEC office:
ATLANTA BRAVES
Mike Yastrzemski, Vanderbilt
CHICAGO CUBS
Alex Bregman, LSU
Kevin Gausman, LSU
Ryan Rolison, Ole Miss
Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Aaron Nola, LSU
Chase Shugart, Texas
SAN DIEGO PADRES
Walker Buehler, Vanderbilt
BOSTON RED SOX
Jake Bennett, Oklahoma
Garrett Crochet, Tennessee
Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt
Wyatt Olds, Oklahoma
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas
Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
David Sandlin, Oklahoma
Hagen Smith, Arkansas
Grant Taylor, LSU
HOUSTON ASTROS
Christian Walker, South Carolina
NEW YORK YANKEES
Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
