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The number of Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League alums that made it to the big leagues increases by one today.

Kyle Hart will be the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in their game against the Tampa Bay Rays at 4:30 today (8/13/20). Hart played for the Cincinnati Steam and will be one of seven Steam alums that is currently in the majors. That list includes Adam Eaton and Josh Harrison. The 27-year-old was born in Cincinnati and played for the Indiana Hoosiers in college. He spent five years there, after missing his junior season due to Tommy John surgery. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 19th round of the 2016 draft. He was facing an uphill battle on his road to the majors, but he worked hard in the minors.

With his minor league teams, he has never had an ERA worse than 3.86. In 77 minor league appearances, his ERA is 3.13. He worked his way up from the GCL Red Sox to the Greenville Drive, the Salem Red Sox, the Portland Sea Dogs, and the Pawtucket Red Sox. He played with Pawtucket starting in late-May of the 2019 season, and he was added to the Red Sox 40-man roster after that year. He was optioned to Pawtucket on March 8th, was assigned to the Red Sox Alternate Training site on July 17th, and will be making his debut today.

Hart will certainly never forget how he was told that he made it to the majors. On Tuesday (8/11/20), he was called into the manager’s office at Pawtucket and was told that he had received a fine from Major League Baseball for not wearing a mask. The manager, pitching coaches, and farm director waited a second before telling him that “you can go pay your fine at Fenway Park tomorrow.” Hart said of the meeting, “That's kind of a real scenario that's going to happen and probably has happened. Luckily it was just a prank and they were pulling my leg."

Yesterday, Hart said, “my mindset is they're giving me an opportunity tomorrow, I need to go pitch to earn another one. That's going to be my mindset as long as I play this game.” He also explained his journey in the minors to this point. “Every year, I started a level lower than what I thought I should be at. I thought I should be in Greenville, they started me in extended. I thought I should be in Salem, they started me in Greenville, and so on and so forth. This year I thought maybe I had a chance of starting with the big league team and they put me at the alternate site.”

The Red Sox come into the game with a 6-12 record, and the Rays are 11-8. The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate league wishes the best of luck to Kyle Hart today and for the years to come!