Virginia Tech Professional Athletes

Ian Seymour is making Virginia Tech proud in October — and making life miserable for the New York Yankees.

The Rays left-hander turned in back-to-back quality relief outings against New York in the opening week of the postseason, establishing himself as a reliable arm out of Tampa Bay's bullpen when the stakes are at their highest.

Seymour's coming-out moment came Tuesday, October 6, when he threw 3.0 innings of one-run ball against the Yankees, striking out four and posting a 3.00 ERA in a Tampa Bay 5-2 victory. Two days later on October 8, he returned to the mound and delivered again — 1.1 scoreless frames, two more strikeouts, and a trimmed ERA of 2.08 in a tighter 4-3 Rays win. Through two appearances, Seymour has punched out six hitters and surrendered just one earned run in 4.1 innings of postseason work.

For a Rays team built on pitching depth and creative roster construction, Seymour fits the profile exactly — a high-strikeout arm capable of bridging innings in high-leverage situations. Getting that kind of production from a Virginia Tech product, in back-to-back playoff games, is the kind of breakout moment Hokies fans will remember long after the series ends.

The Broader Hokies Footprint in MLB

Seymour is the headliner this week, but Virginia Tech's presence across the majors is quietly substantial. The Hokies have 20-plus alumni scattered throughout the league, spanning contenders and rebuilders alike.

Among the position players, Kerry Carpenter (Tigers, RF) and Gavin Cross (Royals, RF) represent the school's recent outfield pipeline. Jack Hurley (Diamondbacks, CF) and Tanner Schobel (Twins, 2B) round out a group of Hokie bats working to carve out big-league roles. On the pitching side, Seymour has company — Nick Enright (Guardians), Joe Mantiply (Blue Jays), Packy Naughton (Cardinals), and Jordan Geber (Mets) are among the arms keeping the Virginia Tech flag flying on mounds across the league.

But this week belongs to Seymour. Pitching in October is a different animal — the crowds are louder, the margins slimmer, and the scrutiny unrelenting. The Blacksburg product has met that moment twice in five days, and the Rays are better for it.

If Tampa Bay makes a deep playoff run, don't be surprised if a Virginia Tech alum is a key reason why.

TJ Rumfield, Colorado's Best Story of 2026

Virginia Tech's most compelling MLB story this week — and this season — belongs to TJ Rumfield. The former Hokie first baseman wrapped up his rookie campaign with the Colorado Rockies having earned one of the organization's most coveted labels: biggest surprise of 2026. Sports Illustrated credited Rumfield's emergence as one of the early dividends of new front-office architect Paul DePodesta, framing the signing as a foundational win for a franchise that hasn't had much to celebrate in recent years.

SI followed that piece with a formal rookie season grade for Rumfield, and the reviews were strong. For a Rockies team still in the early stages of a rebuild, a first baseman who outperforms expectations isn't just a feel-good story — it's leverage heading into the offseason. Yahoo Sports also flagged Rumfield, alongside outfield prospect Cole Carrigg, as a genuine source of optimism for Colorado going into 2027.

Rumfield played his college ball in Blacksburg, and his trajectory — undrafted or late-round prospect developing into a bona fide MLB contributor — is exactly the kind of story Virginia Tech fans tend to rally around. The Hokies don't produce first-round stars on the diamond at the clip of the ACC's traditional powerhouses, but they keep putting players in the big leagues who find ways to stick.

Joe Mantiply Hits the Open Market

On a quieter note, fellow Hokie alum Joe Mantiply is now a free agent after electing to reject a minor league assignment from the Blue Jays. Toronto designated the veteran left-hander for assignment last week, and when he cleared waivers unclaimed, Mantiply exercised his right — earned through a prior outrighting — to choose free agency instead of accepting a demotion.

Mantiply, a crafty reliever who built a solid MLB career out of Blacksburg roots, finished the 2025 season in the big leagues and will now look for a new home. At this stage of his career, he profiles as a depth piece for a club needing a left-handed option in the bullpen. The market will tell.

Around the League

Ian Seymour made a brief appearance for the Rays on September 27 against the Phillies, logging just one-third of an inning in a 3–7 loss. His ERA sits at 4.21 on the year. With a loaded roster of Hokies spread across the league — from Gavin Cross in Kansas City to Jack Hurley in Arizona to Kerry Carpenter in Detroit — the Virginia Tech pipeline into professional baseball remains as active as ever. Rumfield, though, is the name to remember when this season gets filed away.

Virginia Tech in MLB | Sept. 20–26, 2026

TJ Rumfield Puts an Exclamation Point on a Rookie to Remember

T.J. Rumfield didn't fade down the stretch — he finished the way a franchise cornerstone should.

The former Hokie first baseman closed out his Colorado Rockies rookie season with one of his best weeks of the year, going 7-for-his-last-several with multiple multi-hit games, an RBI each day he recorded a hit, and a batting average that hovered right at the .300 mark all week long. He ended the final game of the stretch on Saturday against the White Sox — a 9-6 Colorado win — having gone 1-for-the-day with an RBI and a run scored, finishing at exactly .300 on the season.

The week's best individual performance came Friday against Chicago, when Rumfield went 2-for-the-day with a home run and an RBI in a losing effort. He also turned in a 2-for-4 day with an RBI and a pair of runs scored in Thursday's action against Arizona. In the opener of the week — a 5-3 Rockies win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, Sept. 20 — Rumfield posted 2 hits, drove in a run, and scored once, helping Colorado walk away with the victory.

As Rumfield himself reflected on the rookie season in a piece published Monday, the first baseman noted the kind of debut that turns heads at Coors Field and beyond. He and fellow rookie Gabriel Hughes both made big impacts in their first year in the Majors, according to Yahoo Sports — two very different paths to Denver, one shared bottom line: they mattered.

A Virginia Tech product hitting .300 as a big-league rookie is a story worth framing. Hokie fans should be keeping the poster on the wall all offseason.

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Joe Mantiply Designated for Assignment by Toronto

The other Virginia Tech headline from this week arrives with considerably less celebration.

Left-hander Joe Mantiply was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, Sept. 22, as part of a roster shuffle that saw the team reinstate Trey Yesavage from the injured list and recall Chad Dallas from Triple-A Buffalo. Mantiply was one of two pitchers let go in the corresponding moves, alongside Spencer Arrighetti, who was optioned to the minors.

The DFA doesn't necessarily signal the end of Mantiply's MLB career — he has 10 days to be traded, outrighted, or released — but it does mark a turbulent close to his time with the Blue Jays. The veteran lefty carved out a lengthy big-league run on the back of his deceptive stuff and high-leverage reliability. Whether another club picks him up remains to be seen.

For now, it's a quiet ending to what had been a quietly respectable MLB tenure for the Blacksburg product.

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Elsewhere, Virginia Tech's Ian Seymour continued to log innings for the Tampa Bay Rays, tossing 5.0 frames against the Yankees on Thursday and striking out three batters. He enters the offseason with a 4.22 ERA. Carson DeMartini and fellow Hokie prospects in the Phillies system had their own moment of note, contributing to Reading's Eastern League championship run, though that story belongs to the minor league chapter.

The headline, though, belongs to Rumfield. A .300 average. A rookie season in the books. A Virginia Tech alum who made the Majors look routine.

TJ Rumfield Is Making Colorado History

Virginia Tech's most compelling MLB story this September isn't about a pennant race — it's about a first baseman in Denver quietly rewriting the Rockies' record books.

TJ Rumfield has broken Colorado's franchise rookie walk record, and with 12 games still remaining in the 2026 season, there's no telling how far he can push the mark. The milestone caps a breakthrough year for the Hokies product, who is hitting .301 and has been one of the few genuine bright spots on an otherwise rebuilding Colorado roster.

But Rumfield isn't just an individual story anymore. He's part of something the Rockies haven't been able to say since 2019: three qualified hitters all posting an OPS above .800 in the same season. Rumfield, catcher Hunter Goodman, and outfielder Jake McCarthy form that trio — a rare show of offensive depth at Coors Field that recalls Colorado's 2019 core. For a franchise that has spent much of the last half-decade searching for reasons to watch September baseball, that's not nothing.

Rumfield's week reflected his steady consistency. He went 1-for-4 with a walk in Sunday's loss to Detroit, then rattled off back-to-back multi-hit games against San Diego on Tuesday (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Wednesday (2-for-4). He added another hit and a walk in Thursday's loss to the Padres, and closed the week 1-for-4 on Saturday against Seattle. The average climbed from .298 to .301 across the stretch — the kind of quiet, grinding production that defines his game.

Sports Illustrated noted that Rumfield isn't the only rookie excelling for Colorado, but his walk record and on-base skills set him apart as the headliner. For a Virginia Tech program that has sent a steady stream of talent to pro ball, Rumfield is making the loudest noise in 2026.

Around the Rest of the Hokies

Ian Seymour had a mixed week for Tampa Bay. The Rays lefty struck out 10 over six innings against Houston — per Sportsnet highlights — in what looked like a signature outing, then followed it with a rougher start Friday against Boston: 5 innings, 5 strikeouts, 4 earned runs in a 4-2 loss. His ERA now sits at 4.38, and with the Rays having already clinched a playoff spot, Seymour will look to sharpen his command heading into October.

Joe Mantiply continued his reliable late-inning work out of the Toronto bullpen, logging appearances in three of the week's games. The veteran lefty worked a clean inning with a strikeout against Detroit on Tuesday before a tougher outing Monday (two earned runs in a third of an inning) and another solid frame on Saturday against Texas (1 IP, 1 K, 1 ER). His ERA stands at 3.33 on the season.

The Hokies alumni corps in MLB is broad — 20-plus active players across the league — but this week belonged to Rumfield. A Virginia Tech product breaking franchise records in his rookie year, anchoring a rare offensive moment for a franchise starved for optimism, is exactly the kind of story that sticks.