UNC Wilmington Professional Athletes

Ryan Jeffers Eyes the Open Market

The most consequential offseason story for UNC Wilmington alumni in MLB begins not with a trade or a signing, but with a simple declaration: Ryan Jeffers is testing free agency.

The Twins catcher — a second-round pick out of UNCW in 2018 — confirmed he plans to explore the market this winter, even as he left the door open to a Minnesota return. "I've worked too hard not to see what's out there," Jeffers said, per MLB Trade Rumors. After spending his entire professional career in the Twins organization, that honesty carries weight. It signals a player who knows his value and intends to find out what the market agrees it is.

That value is real. Jeffers closed out the regular season on a strong note, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in Minnesota's 6-4 win over Texas on September 27, finishing the year at .256. Quality catching is perennially scarce in MLB, and Jeffers — still just 27 — represents a defensively capable, right-handed-hitting option entering what should be his prime years.

The void he leaves in Minnesota is significant enough that Sports Illustrated and Heavy Sports both flagged it immediately. With Jeffers gone, the Twins would be left with Victor Caratini as their only catcher on the 40-man roster — a thin situation that puts the organization in reactive mode. Minnesota will need to decide quickly whether to pursue a reunion or pivot to a different solution entirely, whether that's Tyler Stephenson or another market option.

For UNCW fans, the headline is straightforward: one of the program's most prominent MLB products is about to have his name attached to one of the offseason's most-watched free agent decisions.

Phillips Stays Sharp in LA

While Jeffers commands the bigger headline, Evan Phillips continued his reliable role in the Dodgers' bullpen through the final week of the regular season. The UNCW product tossed a clean inning with two strikeouts in Los Angeles' 5-1 win over San Francisco on September 27, finishing with a 3.46 ERA. He followed that with a brief appearance in the Dodgers' 5-3 win over Atlanta on October 3.

Phillips doesn't generate the star-turn narrative that Jeffers does, but his consistency in one of baseball's most scrutinized bullpens — in a postseason-bound rotation, no less — is its own kind of achievement for a UNCW alum.

The Bigger Picture

Between Jeffers entering one of the most significant free agent decisions of his career and Phillips navigating October with the defending champions, UNCW has two alumni operating at meaningful levels of the sport right now. The Seahawks also count Greg Jones (Brewers), Brett Banks and Austin Warren (Mets), and Luke Craig, Adam Smith, and Zane Taylor among their active MLB representatives — a roster depth that speaks to what Wilmington has quietly built as a pipeline program.

The Jeffers sweepstakes, though, is the story to watch. When the hot stove ignites, his name will be near the top of the catcher market — and UNCW will have a rooting interest in where he lands.

UNCW in the Majors | Sept. 20–26

A year ago, Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart were spectators in their own clubhouse — rehabbing from surgeries while the Los Angeles Dodgers made their postseason run without them. This October, neither man plans on watching from the sidelines.

Both veteran right-handers are healthy and entrenched in what has become one of baseball's deepest bullpens, and the Dodgers' front office knows exactly what it has. Phillips, in particular, has been a reliable late-inning weapon down the stretch.

Evan Phillips: Earning His October Spot

Phillips worked three appearances this week, logging a clean inning on Sunday in LA's 10-4 win over San Francisco — punching out two — then returning Friday to strand two more Padres in a 4-2 loss, again striking out a pair across a scoreless frame. Saturday was his lone hiccup: he allowed an earned run in a 4-3 Dodgers win over the Giants, bumping his ERA slightly to 3.60. Across the week, he threw three innings total, struck out five, and largely did what a trusted setup arm is supposed to do when September games start to matter.

The broader narrative is the redemption arc. Phillips and Stewart both missed last year's postseason recovering from surgery. Now both are healthy contributors in a bullpen that the Dodgers are betting on when October arrives. For Phillips, who went through the grind of a full season to get here, the timing is personal.

Ryan Jeffers: A Difficult Finish in Minnesota

Meanwhile, former UNCW catcher Ryan Jeffers had a quieter week in a Minnesota uniform that's heading toward an uncertain offseason. Jeffers went 2-for-his-last-several across four appearances — collecting a hit in Wednesday's 4-2 win over San Francisco and another in Saturday's 10-2 rout of Texas — while watching his average settle at .252.

The numbers mask a rougher truth: Jeffers has struggled significantly in the second half, and according to Sports Illustrated, Minnesota may reconsider extending a qualifying offer this offseason given how his finish has affected the team's playoff picture. It's a stark contrast to what the Twins hoped for when they committed to him behind the plate. Jeffers still has the tools, but the second-half fade has raised real questions heading into the winter.

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Two UNCW alumni, two very different trajectories in the final week of the regular season. Phillips is pitching himself into a high-leverage October role on the sport's biggest stage. Jeffers is finishing a season that ended Minnesota's postseason dreams and clouds his own future with the club.

For a mid-major program in Wilmington, North Carolina, having two alumni in meaningful September conversations — one a potential October weapon, one a cautionary tale of second-half collapse — is the kind of spread that any college program would sign up for.

The Jeffers Question Isn't Going Away

Ryan Jeffers is hitting, the Twins are grinding, and the clock is ticking on a front-office decision that could define Minnesota's offseason before the regular season even ends.

The UNCW product went 1-for-3 with an RBI on Saturday against the Angels — part of a late-September push that has the Twins locked in a playoff chase. Jeffers entered the week hitting .266 before settling at .259, a stretch that included a pair of walks (Friday vs. LAA, Wednesday vs. NYY) and a quiet night in a 3-8 loss to New York on Monday. It's the kind of week that won't make highlight reels, but for a team fighting for October, every contribution counts.

The larger drama, though, isn't what Jeffers does with the bat this week. It's what happens once the season ends.

According to Sports Illustrated, the Twins kept Jeffers at the trade deadline while chasing a playoff spot — a decision that now carries real risk. With free agency looming, Minnesota bypassed an opportunity to convert Jeffers' value into a return that could have restocked the roster for future years. If the Twins fall short of the playoffs, or if Jeffers walks in the offseason, that call could prove costly in hindsight.

Jeffers, for his part, has done nothing to hurt his market. A catcher batting .259 with demonstrated on-base skills at a premium defensive position will draw interest. The question is whether Minnesota will be the team making the offer — or watching from the outside as a division rival signs one of their own.

Phillips Feels the Heat in Cincinnati

Across the league, fellow Seahawk Evan Phillips had a moment he'd rather forget earlier in the week. The Dodgers reliever surrendered a solo homer to Elly De La Cruz in the ninth inning on Monday — a ball that didn't just leave the yard, it left Great American Ball Park entirely, a towering moonshot to center field. Phillips finished the inning with a line of 1.0 IP, 1 K, and 1 earned run, nudging his ERA to 3.68.

For a Dodgers team with its own playoff positioning to manage, a one-run ninth-inning blip against a Reds lineup with that kind of pop is an acceptable risk. For Phillips personally, it's a reminder of the razor-thin margins that define late-season relief work.

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The week's UNCW storyline is ultimately one of stakes and timing. Jeffers is producing when the Twins need him most, but the bigger game — the one being played in front offices and agents' offices — is just beginning. Minnesota's decision to hold at the deadline bought them a stretch run with their best catcher. Whether it buys them a postseason berth, and whether Jeffers is in the fold next year to celebrate it, remains very much unresolved.

Two UNC Wilmington alumni are carving out meaningful roles in the thick of MLB's September playoff race — and neither is showing signs of fading when it matters most.

Ryan Jeffers Is Back, and the Twins Need Every Bit of It

The most compelling UNCW story of the week belongs to Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, who has quietly turned into a September weapon after a hamate surgery derailed his power earlier in the season. According to Sports Illustrated, Jeffers has caught fire during Minnesota's critical stretch run — the kind of power resurgence a club chasing a playoff spot cannot script but desperately needs.

The numbers back the narrative. Jeffers hit in multiple games across the week, collecting two hits and a walk against the Tigers on Tuesday, Sept. 8, while maintaining a .270 batting average. The production was no aberration — he'd already knocked in a run against Detroit the night before and drawn another walk in the White Sox series opener on Sunday, Sept. 6. Earlier in that same White Sox series, Jeffers crushed a three-run homer, a swing that highlighted exactly the kind of middle-of-the-order threat Minnesota needs from its backstop down the stretch.

Jeffers' resurgence is notable not just for the stats but for what it signals: the power that made him a rotation piece behind the plate is fully back. For a Twins club fighting for positioning in September, a catcher who can change a game with one swing is a luxury, not a given.

Evan Phillips Holding His Ground in LA's Bullpen

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Evan Phillips continues to work high-leverage innings for an NL-contending Dodgers squad. Phillips appeared three times during the period — against the Nationals on Sept. 6, the Reds on Sept. 8, and the Marlins on Sept. 11 — logging clean outings in each game.

His best work came against Cincinnati: a full inning of work with two strikeouts in a Dodgers 6-3 victory. He followed that with another inning against Washington and a brief, efficient appearance to open the Miami series, finishing the week with a 3.43 ERA. For a Dodgers bullpen managing workloads across a long season and a playoff push, Phillips' ability to take the ball in tight spots without surrendering damage is exactly the profile LA's pitching staff leans on.

Phillips also made news off the mound, with the Dodgers announcing personal news involving the right-hander ahead of the Marlins series opener — a reminder that, for all the September intensity, life off the field doesn't pause for the standings.

The Seahawk Bottom Line

Jeffers and Phillips represent the opposite ends of the alumni spectrum this week — one a bat the Twins are building September around, the other a trusted arm the Dodgers keep reaching for when the game is on the line. Both are UNC Wilmington products making their presence felt in the final weeks of a season where the margin for error is razor thin. For Seahawks fans tracking the MLB stretch run, there's plenty to watch.