Stephen Haynes

Poughkeepsie Journal

Kevin McCarthy became the first former Marist College baseball player to make the Major Leagues Tuesday, when he was called up by the Kansas City Royals.

The relief pitcher was in uniform on Tuesday night, wearing No. 61, as the Royals visited the Minnesota Twins.

“We’re so proud of Kevin on realizing his dream,” Marist baseball head coach Chris Tracz said. “He’s worked his tail off to get here and it’s going to be neat seeing him in a game.”

McCarthy, who left Marist in 2013, was playing for the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha before his promotion. The righthander posted a 2.97 ERA with 30 strikeouts and five saves in 33 1/3 innings pitched in the Pacific Coast League.

The 24-year-old was one of three former Marist players competing in the minor leagues, along with Zach Shank in the Seattle Mariners organization, and Jonathan Schwind with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On Sept. 1, Major League Baseball teams’ rosters expanded from 25 players to 40, allowing franchises to promote some of their top minor league prospects during the final month of the season.

“The way he had performed over the last couple weeks, I thought it was a possibility he could get the call, but you’re still surprised when you hear it happened,” Tracz said. “It’s an awesome accomplishment.”

McCarthy stands 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and features a fastball that hovers around 92 mph. During his sophomore year in college, Tracz said, he developed “a great slider" to compliment the four-seamer.

McCarthy is a native of Malverne, New York and attended Kellenberg Memorial High School in Nassau County. After pitching for three seasons at Marist, the junior was selected by the Royals in the 16th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.

“When he came to Marist, that was one of his goals,” Tracz said of McCarthy’s aspirations to become a professional ballplayer. “To know we played a small part in that is great.”

At Marist, McCarthy was used as a starting pitcher and a closer. In 2013, he struck out 62 batters in 68 innings and was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Co-Relief Pitcher of the Year.

Tracz said McCarthy was beloved by his Red Foxes teammates and known for his “goofball, carefree attitude.” He always had a competitive “mean streak” and he matured in his three years at Marist, Tracz said, “but he never lost that fun personality.”

McCarthy's promotion is the second such milestone for Marist's athletics program in recent years. Terrence Fede became the first Marist football product to play in an NFL game in 2014 with the Miami Dolphins. He has since been joined in the NFL by Jason Myers, a kicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

McCarthy’s success has obvious benefits for Marist baseball. It should aid in recruiting, showing that the program can develop players who advance beyond the collegiate level. And, Tracz said, it’s a source of pride for McCarthy’s former teammates and motivation for the current Red Foxes.

“When you play as a kid, there’s that dream of playing in Major League Baseball,” Tracz said. “We’ve had guys who experienced a good amount of success. Hopefully, this lets the guys in our program know that it is possible to make it, that maybe one day it could be them.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4826, Twitter: @StephenHaynes4