Huskers in the MLB PlayoffsHuskers in the MLB Playoffs
Baseball

Huskers in the MLB Playoffs

Four former Huskers are on 40-man rosters for the 2015 MLB Playoffs, which ties Nebraska for the third in the country. Nebraska, along with North Carolina, Florida State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all have four former players on 40-man rosters, while LSU has five former players and Long Beach State leads the nation with six former players.

The Kansas City Royals, who finished first in the American League with a 95-67 record, have three former Huskers on their 40-man roster. Four-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon starts in left field for the American League Central champions, while Joba Chamberlain and Michael Mariot are both relief pitchers. Teams are allowed a 25-man active roster for each round of the playoffs and the Royals have not announced their roster for the division series against the Houston Astros that starts on Thursday in Kansas City.

The other former Husker in the MLB Playoffs is Pittsburgh Pirate reliever Tony Watson. Watson and the Pirates host the Chicago Cubs tonight in the wildcard round, with the winner advancing to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the divisional round on Friday. The Pirates and Cubs finished with the second and third best records, respectively, in all of baseball, but since they are in the same division as the Cardinals, who finished with the best record in baseball, the Cubs and Pirates are forced to play in the one-game wild card round.