Thornton makes MLB debut with Mets

The Appalachian League is proud to announce a league-wide partnership with Cell Phones for Soldiers aimed at supporting active-duty military members and veterans throughout Appalachian League communities.

The Appalachian League will expand its exhibition schedule against the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team to play six games over three days between June 27-29, with twin bills against the Stars and Stripes teams.

To begin the 2026 season, 133 Appy League alumni are assigned to clubs in affiliated ball, including two (Jordan Leasure and Kyle Karros) in the Majors and six in Triple-A. All 30 teams have a former Appy League player in their system.

After reaching the Majors in August, third baseman Kyle Karros followed it up in an impressive Spring Training to earn an Opening Day roster spot with the Colorado Rockies. The 2021 Greeneville Flyboy got a hit on Opening Day and followed that up with a steal in both the second and third game of the year.

Thirty Appalachian League alumni were selected for Major League Baseball’s third annual edition of Spring Breakout, which took place March 19-22. Spring Breakout serves as a showcase of baseball’s future stars with each Major League Club fielding a team of prospects from their farm system to play a team of top prospects from another organization in an exhibition game.

Jordan Leasure, the alum of the new Appalachian League to reach the Majors, earned a spot in the White Sox's Opening Day roster for the third straight season. The right-hander posted a 3.92 ERA over 64 1/3 innings in his sophomore season.