Westmont College Professional Athletes

Michael Stefanic has spent most of the 2026 season flying under the radar, which — given his alma mater — is almost fitting. The Westmont College product has quietly built one of the more compelling batting-average cases in the American League, sitting at .346 as the MLB regular season enters its final days.

Stefanic, who mans second base for the Oakland Athletics, drew a walk in Sunday's loss to Houston on September 27, keeping his on-base streak intact and his average locked at .346. The number isn't a hot-streak mirage; it's a season-long statement from a player who came out of a small NAIA program in Santa Barbara that most casual fans couldn't place on a map.

The Westmont Factor

Westmont College doesn't produce MLB players on a conveyor belt. When one does make it — and sticks — it means something. Stefanic's path from the Warriors to a big-league roster was never the obvious one, which makes the .346 mark land differently than it might for a first-round pick from a power conference. It's the kind of number that rewrites the scouting narrative in real time.

At .346, Stefanic sits in elite territory for batting average in a league that has increasingly deprioritized the category. Contact hitters who post this kind of consistent average are rare; ones who arrive via Westmont are essentially unicorns.

The Bigger Picture

The Athletics' 2026 season hasn't been a fairy tale — Sunday's loss to Houston underscored that — but Stefanic's individual performance has been one of the few genuine bright spots in Oakland. For a franchise in transition, having a second baseman hit at this clip provides at least one concrete reason for optimism heading into the offseason.

Fellow Westmont alumnus Andrew Vasquez remains on the Detroit Tigers roster, though he did not log stats during this period.

As the regular season wraps, the question for Stefanic shifts from "can he maintain it?" to "what does he do for an encore?" A .346 average doesn't guarantee postseason heroics or a fat new contract, but it does guarantee that opposing pitchers will no longer be treating a Westmont Warrior lightly.

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Michael Stefanic is making the most of his final at-bats of the 2026 regular season.

The Westmont College product and Oakland Athletics second baseman finished the week batting .346 — a number that tells a clear story of a player who found his footing and didn't let go. Over the course of the Sep. 20–26 stretch, Stefanic gave Oakland consistent production at the plate during a competitive week of games that included series against Cleveland, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Houston Astros.

The week's signature moment came Saturday, Sep. 26, when Stefanic went 1-for-1 at the plate and drove in two runs in a 6-5 Oakland win over Houston. It was the kind of clutch, run-producing performance that defines a player's late-season value — and the kind that sticks in a front office's memory when roster decisions get made in the offseason.

Friday's game against the Astros (a 5-7 Oakland loss) saw Stefanic collect another hit and push his average to .320 before Saturday's performance padded that number further. While the A's dropped that contest, Stefanic's bat didn't go quiet.

The Westmont-to-MLB path is a rare one. The NAIA school in Santa Barbara, California doesn't produce big leaguers every generation, which makes Stefanic's sustained presence on an MLB roster a genuine point of pride for Warriors alumni. His ability to hit consistently at this level — and finish the season trending upward rather than fading — suggests he's not a roster curiosity but a legitimate contributor.

Andrew Vasquez, the other Westmont alum on an MLB roster, is listed with the Detroit Tigers but had no recorded game activity during this period.

For Westmont fans watching the final week of the regular season, Stefanic's .346 average and timely RBI production is the story worth savoring. Small-college success stories don't always get a long run at the highest level — Stefanic is working hard to make sure his does.