San Diego Professional Athletes

Connor Joe's Mariners Stay Ends With a Fork in the Road

The most consequential transaction for San Diego alumni this week didn't involve a box score. The Mariners outrighted infielder/outfielder Connor Joe to Triple-A Tacoma after he cleared waivers, following a designation for assignment earlier in the week. Crucially, Joe holds the right to elect free agency — a decision Seattle conspicuously declined to tip its hand on publicly. For Toreros fans tracking a hometown product, the next move is Joe's to make, and the offseason could reshape where he lands for 2026.

Mautz Battles in St. Louis Colors

Fellow USD product Brycen Mautz had a rough go on the mound for the Cardinals in their Wednesday night matchup against the Dodgers. Starting opposite Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Mautz lasted just one inning and surrendered three earned runs — pushing his ERA to 11.57 on the season. The Cardinals gutted out a win in extras despite the shaky start. Mautz is still carving out a big-league role, and outings like this one underscore how steep the learning curve remains against elite competition.

Meidroth Keeps Hitting for a Rebuilding Sox

Chase Meidroth has been one of the quieter bright spots in an otherwise bleak White Sox season. The second baseman hit safely in multiple games this week — going 2-for-his-games against the Astros on Thursday (raising his average to .273 at one point) and adding another hit Saturday against the Twins — and finished the week batting .271. For a Chicago club with little to play for, Meidroth is exactly the kind of young piece worth watching through September.

Whitcomb Grinding Through a Tough Stretch

Giants third baseman Shay Whitcomb logged hits in three of his six appearances this week but remains mired in a difficult stretch, batting .131 entering the weekend. He showed some patience at the plate — drawing two walks Thursday against Pittsburgh — but the overall numbers reflect the struggles of a player fighting to stay in the lineup. San Francisco's season is winding down and Whitcomb will need a strong final month to make a case heading into roster decisions.

Sewald Steady, if Unspectacular

Paul Sewald continued his work out of the Blue Jays bullpen, appearing Wednesday against the Guardians and again Saturday against Kansas City. His ERA sits at 5.28 on the season, a far cry from his dominant years closing games in Seattle. Still, he's logging innings in a competitive league at 35 — a testament to durability if not his peak form.

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The Connor Joe situation is the headline for Toreros faithful: a veteran corner outfielder with leverage entering a critical offseason window. Whether he returns to Tacoma or tests the open market, San Diego alumni activity in MLB doesn't end when the regular season does.

It was a tale of two Toreros in the majors this week — one riding a hot streak to relevance on the South Side of Chicago, the other closing the book on a disappointing chapter in the desert.

Chase Meidroth Is Locked In

San Diego alum Chase Meidroth has been one of the more quietly productive bats in the American League over the past week, and he's doing it the hard way — putting up numbers for a White Sox team that has given fans little reason to watch.

The second baseman recorded hits in four consecutive games from August 12–15, raising his average to .280 in the process. The highlight came Wednesday against Cincinnati, when Meidroth crushed a two-run home run as part of a dominant 5-0 Chicago shutout win over the Reds. He finished that game 2-for-4 with the homer, two RBIs, and a run scored. He kept the foot on the gas Thursday — another 2-for-4 effort with an RBI, two runs, and a pair of walks — before adding multi-hit contributions in Friday's game and a hit Saturday in the weekend series against Detroit.

For a White Sox rebuild that hasn't offered many bright spots, Meidroth is making a legitimate case to be part of the long-term picture. The USD product is hitting .280 on the season, and this stretch showed both the gap power and the plate discipline that made him a prospect worth watching.

Sewald's Time in Arizona Comes to an Abrupt End

The week was far less kind to fellow Torero Paul Sewald. The Arizona Diamondbacks designated the reliever for assignment, cutting ties with their closer in the middle of a tight NL playoff race — a move the organization itself called a "brutal decision."

The numbers made it unavoidable. Sewald posted 24 saves in 2026, but his ERA ballooned to 6.23, a steep fall from the dominant form that made him one of baseball's more reliable late-inning arms in previous seasons. Arizona, fighting for a playoff spot, couldn't afford to carry a struggling closer through the stretch run.

The D-backs' loss is potentially another team's reclamation project. Sewald, a San Diego product with a career's worth of closer experience, is now listed with the Blue Jays, giving him a chance to regroup in Toronto. Whether he can rediscover his old form before the postseason push is an open question, but the résumé gives him a real opportunity to contribute.

Also Noteworthy

Shay Whitcomb, another USD alum, was designated for assignment by the Houston Astros this week after the club claimed outfielder Nelson Velazquez off waivers from the Cardinals. The move cleared Whitcomb from the 40-man roster, adding another Torero to the waiver wire in what turned into a rough stretch for the school's MLB contingent outside of Meidroth's surge.

The week illustrated the fine margins of big-league survival — Meidroth is playing himself into the conversation, while Sewald and Whitcomb are navigating the other end of that ledger.