Illinois State Professional Athletes

Normal, Illinois isn't exactly a hotbed of October baseball lore — but for one stretch in early October 2026, Illinois State had two of its own on the mound in the MLB playoffs simultaneously.

Brent Headrick (Yankees) and Brock Stewart (Dodgers) both appeared in postseason action within 24 hours of each other, a remarkable moment for a mid-major program that rarely commands this kind of national spotlight.

Headrick Answers the Call in the Bronx

Headrick took the mound Tuesday, October 6, as the Yankees hosted the Rays in a tight 2-5 loss. The ISU product worked 0.2 innings and notched a strikeout — a brief but meaningful appearance in a high-stakes postseason environment. Getting into a playoff game at all is a credential most pitchers never earn, and Headrick checked that box for the Redbirds.

The Yankees are leaning on a deep bullpen in October, and Headrick carved out enough of a role to see action when it mattered.

Stewart Takes the Stage for Los Angeles

One night earlier, on Monday, October 5, Brock Stewart suited up for the Dodgers against the Braves in a 2-3 Dodgers loss. Stewart threw 0.1 innings in what was a tense, low-margin postseason contest. The Dodgers, perennial October fixtures, trust Stewart enough to deploy him in elimination-pressure situations — no small thing for an ISU alum competing in one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball.

What It Means for the Redbird Program

The back-to-back appearances are more than a footnote. Illinois State is a Missouri Valley Conference school that doesn't recruit from the same pool as SEC or ACC powerhouses. Getting one pitcher to the postseason is a program highlight; getting two on the mound in the same playoff week — for the Yankees and the Dodgers, no less — is the kind of thing that ends up in a coach's recruiting pitch for years.

Both Headrick and Stewart are pitchers who've carved niches in bullpen roles, surviving the brutal roster math of October baseball where only the most trusted arms get the ball. That ISU produced both of them is a testament to what the Redbird program can develop.

The rest of ISU's MLB contingent — Jake Brentz (Rays), Elijah Dale (Mariners), Paul DeJong (Yankees), Owen Miller (Cubs), and John Rave (Royals) — rounds out an impressive alumni footprint across the league. DeJong, notably, is a teammate of Headrick's in New York, meaning the Yankees had ISU representation at multiple positions this postseason.

For Redbird fans watching October baseball, there was plenty of reason to keep score.

Two Illinois State alumni are on the same MLB playoff roster — but the circumstances surrounding that pairing just got a lot more complicated.

Blake Treinen, the veteran Dodgers right-hander who shares Redbird roots with teammate Brock Stewart, is likely done for the season after suffering a shoulder injury while warming up in the bullpen during Los Angeles' win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. The injury removes one of the Dodgers' most experienced relief arms from the equation at the worst possible time — the eve of October baseball.

That reality lands squarely on Stewart's shoulders, in more ways than one.

Stewart Answers the Call

With Treinen sidelined, Stewart has moved into a more prominent bullpen role down the stretch. The timing of Treinen's injury was stark enough that Stewart was granted extra warm-up pitches before entering Saturday's game — a small but telling sign of how quickly the situational math changed. He handled the moment, tossing a clean 1.0-inning performance against Atlanta, striking out one, as the Dodgers held on for a 5-3 win.

For Illinois State fans, it's a bittersweet tableau: one ISU alum's playoff run threatened by injury, another stepping into the breach. Stewart has now positioned himself as a genuine contributor to a Dodgers team with championship aspirations. How much rope he gets in a short postseason series will be one of the more interesting subplots to track.

Headrick Pitching at the Other End of the Standings

Meanwhile, Brent Headrick is logging innings for a very different kind of October. The ISU product has appeared out of the Yankees bullpen in back-to-back outings — 0.1 innings against Boston on Thursday and another 0.1-inning turn against Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Yankees are still playing meaningful baseball, but Headrick's brief appearances suggest a mop-up or depth role rather than a high-leverage one at this stage.

Still, just making a big-league roster in the final week of a pennant race is no small thing. Two Illinois State arms in the Bronx and Chavez Ravine — reflects well on a program that doesn't always command national headlines.

The Bigger Picture

The Treinen-Stewart dynamic is the story here. Treinen is not listed among the active ISU alumni in the research brief — his absence from the official roster now painfully literal on the field, too. If the shoulder injury holds, he'll watch the Dodgers' postseason run from the dugout rather than the mound, leaving Stewart to carry the ISU flag in what could be a deep October.

For Redbirds fans looking for a team to follow into the playoffs, the Dodgers just became appointment viewing. Keep an eye on how Dodgers manager Dave Roberts deploys Stewart in high-leverage spots — that's where the Illinois State story gets written or rewritten in October.

Illinois State doesn't run a baseball factory, but as the 2026 MLB regular season hits its final week, three Redbird alumni are doing something remarkable — contributing in meaningful ways for three of the sport's most recognizable playoff contenders. Brent Headrick (Yankees), Brock Stewart (Dodgers), and John Rave (Royals) are all in the mix, each with a different story to tell.

Headrick: The Yankees' Best Reliever With One Lingering Question

No Illinois State alum has drawn more attention this week than Brent Headrick. The Yankees lefty has quietly become one of their most dominant relievers in 2026 — but questions are now swirling about his velocity as October approaches. Yankees beat writer Brendan Kuty of The Athletic flagged the concern publicly, and a rough outing against Arizona on September 20 didn't help the optics: Headrick allowed two earned runs across just 0.2 innings in an 8-4 Yankees loss, a nightmare fifth inning that sank New York's day.

He bounced back Friday against Baltimore — 1.0 inning, two strikeouts, one earned run — but with a 2.18 ERA and the postseason looming, the velocity story is the one Yankees fans are watching. A late-season blip from a key bullpen arm is the last thing a contender wants to see. Headrick still has time to answer the question. Whether he does will matter a great deal.

Stewart: The Comeback Story Ready for the Spotlight

Brock Stewart's 2026 arc is the kind scouts and coaches talk about for years. Last October, Stewart was on the Dodgers' roster in spirit only — recovering from surgery, unable to pitch while his teammates made a run. This year, he's one of the key cogs in what has become an increasingly deep Los Angeles bullpen.

Stewart has been a model of consistency this week, logging 1.0 inning in each of his appearances — Wednesday against San Diego and Saturday against San Francisco (where he allowed one run in a 4-3 Dodgers win). His ERA sits at 2.70, and the Dodgers are leaning on him in genuine high-leverage situations. For a pitcher who had to watch last postseason from the sideline, getting a real crack at October with the defending champions is personal.

Rave: Making a Case No One Expected Him To

John Rave's situation in Kansas City is a quieter story, but a compelling one. The Royals outfielder has hit safely in multiple games this week — 1-for-4 on Saturday, 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk on Friday, 2-for-4 on Thursday — batting .232 on the season. He's doing enough in limited at-bats that Sports Illustrated raised the question of whether Rave has done enough to secure his roster spot heading into 2027.

Kansas City hasn't been in contention deep into September often in recent years, and Rave is getting his reps in a meaningful environment. The Royals' decision on him this offseason will be one of the minor roster stories worth watching.

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Three Normal, Illinois kids. Three playoff-caliber rosters. The Redbirds aren't a baseball school — but right now, they've got a case to make.