Columbia native set for Major League debut with Tampa Bay Rays
Josh Fleming’s dream is about to come true.
A 2014 graduate of Columbia High School and current member of the Tampa Bay Rays, Fleming will make his major league debut on the mound Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Rays announced on Friday that Fleming, a 24-year-old lefthander, had his contact selected from Tampa Bay’s alternative training site and will replace Yonny Chirinos who suffered a torn UCL which will require Tommy John surgery.
A standout player at Columbia where he was 8-4 with a 1.53 ERA as a senior, Fleming went on to have three outstanding seasons at NCAA Division III Webster University in St. Louis.
Fleming was the selected in the fifth round of the 2017 Amateur Baseball Draft by Tampa Bay and has gradually climbed up the Rays farm system in the past 2 1/2 years.
Chosen as the team MVP a year ago while pitching for Montgomery in the Class AA Southern league, the 6-2, 220-pound Fleming was 11-4 with a 3.31 ERA in just under 128 innings.
For his minor league career, Fleming is 22-13 with a 3.40 ERA. He has struck out 214 hitters in 294 innings.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 1:48 PM.
