Former Clemson OF called up to MLB, in lineup Sunday

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Sunday, July 08 2018

Former Clemson outfielder Steven Duggar was called up for his Major League debut with the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

Duggar is leading off as a center fielder in the Giants' 4:05 Eastern home start with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Spartanburg native has been a highly-touted prospect in the Giants' farm system in recent years after a sixth-round selection in 2015. He's hit .272 with four homers, 21 RBIs and 35 total extra-base hits with 11 stolen bases in Triple-A this season.

Duggar was a third-team All-ACC selection in his final season with Clemson, where he hit .304 with 56 runs scored, 43 RBIs and 12 doubles. Over three seasons, he totaled 109 RBIs, 33 doubles, 140 runs and 50 stolen bases.

The Giants made room for Duggar by trading right-hander reliever Cory Gearrin and outfielder Austin Jackson to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later and cash considerations.

Duggar will be a seventh former Tiger to make an MLB roster this season, joining Steve Wilkerson (Baltimore Orioles; currently on DL), Daniel Gossett (RHP Oakland A's; currently on DL), Spencer Kieboom (C Washington Nationals), Dominic Leone (RHP St. Louis Cardinals; on DL), Brad Miller (SS Milwaukee Brewers) and Tony Sipp (LHP Houston Astros).

With Duggar making the Bigs, every Tiger team from 1974 to 2015 has now had at least one future major leaguer on its roster.

Duggar said AAA manager Dave Brundage broke the news by asking him whether he’d prefer to go to the Triple-A All-Star game (replacing d’Arnaud) or going to a the big leagues. Duggar wasn’t sure if he was kidding. He didn’t exactly stop to weigh the pros and cons.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) July 8, 2018

Steven Duggar batting leadoff and playing center field in his MLB debut today with Madison Bumgarner on the mound. pic.twitter.com/GYwKcwnKT2
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 8, 2018

#SFGiants purchase contracts of OF Steven Duggar & RHP Ray Black from @RiverCats. Duggar & Black are ranked No. 3 & No. 29, respectively, on the @SFGiants' Top 30 Prospects list: https://t.co/PPziFQRwZ9 pic.twitter.com/YUiRN0dGVs
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 8, 2018

Bochy says Gorkys Hernandez and Steven Duggar will essentially platoon in center field, with Hernandez also getting some starts in left, as he is today.
— Jorge L. Ortiz (@jorgelortiz) July 8, 2018

Bochy said Duggar largely will be in platoon starting vs RHP because of the RH hitters he’ll want to play vs lefties. Duggar might not always lead off. Depends on how he does. Black will go 6th, 7th innings. #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) July 8, 2018