How St. Joe’s baseball is helping players get drafted: ‘It was just a great team culture’
Three Hawks were picked this year, another one signed in free agency, and Brett Callahan made his MLB debut in a big way with the Detroit Tigers.
When Brett Callahan was called up by the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 16 to make his major league debut, he became the fifth player in St. Joseph’s baseball history to reach his sport’s peak.
Callahan, who was drafted in the 13th round in 2023, then hit a two-run triple to left on the first major league pitch he saw in a 7-5 Tigers loss to the Chicago White Sox.
“Whenever a guy that you coached gets to the pinnacle of the game, it’s a thrill,” Hawks coach Fritz Hamburg said. “It’s a thrill for us as coaches. It’s a thrill for his teammates. It’s a thrill for, obviously, his family. And I mean, it’s just so cool to see. There’s no other way to say it.”
Callahan follows in the footsteps of Fritz Henrich, Jamie Moyer, Jimmy Yacabonis, and Brian O’Keefe, representing a long line of St. Joe’s baseball players who have chased, or are chasing, that dream. (A sixth MLB player, Allan Travers, was a student at St. Joe’s but not on the team when he played one game for the Tigers in 1912 under strange circumstances.)
Thirty-seven St. Joe’s players have been MLB draft picks, and another 25 have signed with MLB or independent clubs in free agency. Seventeen of those draft picks have come under Hamburg, who’s entering his 19th season with the Hawks.
Earlier this summer, three Hawks pitchers were picked on the second day of the MLB draft — Andrew Gaines, in the 10th round by the Brewers, Christian Coppola two rounds later by the Phillies, and Duke McCarron in the 17th round by the Marlins. A few weeks later, left-handed pitcher Cole Fehrman signed a minor league contract with the Rangers on July 24.
While there is an excitement to hearing his players’ names called each summer, Hamburg also said it’s “a viable and an important part to any program.”
“First and foremost, it’s most important for the players, them having the confidence in our program, our coaching staff, and the development process,” Hamburg said. “That we’ve been able to have the number of players that have worked to have the opportunity to be drafted and to play professionally is, for me personally, really important. That’s always been a big driving force for what we do, and it speaks to, I think, the overall experience that the guys have in our program.”
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Transferring in
Gaines, Coppola, McCarron, and Fehrman transferred into St. Joe’s ahead of the 2026 season, in which the program won a school-record 36 games, won its second Atlantic 10 regular-season title, and won the most conference games in A-10 history before falling in the consolation bracket of the conference championship.
Despite their short time with the program, Hamburg said their four pitchers’ careers “took off this year.” He credited that to both the pitching coach, Scott Boches, and to the players themselves, who put in the work with the Hawks.
When the group first committed to St. Joe’s, there was no pitching coach on staff. Boches’ hiring wasn’t announced until Aug. 18, 2025. But the group trusted Hamburg and the program. When Boches was hired, Coppola said it was clear Hamburg was blending metrics with “old-school baseball,” and the recipe worked for the Hawks.
“I think [Hamburg] has an understanding of what gets players drafted and what kind of pitching coach he needs to bring in to accomplish that,” Coppola said. “The fact that he’s still able to manage to recruit three draft picks and one free-agent signing in one portal transfer class, that’s amazing.”
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In their final season with their previous programs, the quartet had ERAs in double figures. During the 2026 season with the Hawks, all four pitchers saw their ERAs drop and their appearances increase. Gaines also tied the school’s single-season saves record (10).
Gaines said the respect and trust from Boches helped. Boches offered open and honest feedback on how to improve the pitchers’ existing routines but didn’t try to change much. In return, this allowed them to pitch more free and loose.
“Obviously, you’re going to mess up, and they expect you not to be your best every single time. They expect you to go out there and do your job, but it’s baseball,” Gaines said. “At Pitt, I was super stressed about doing well because I wasn’t throwing well and worrying about what was going to be said, but [at St. Joe’s], it was so easy to go out there and do my job.”
For McCarron, the teammates surrounding him also made a difference.
“We were all pushing for each other,” he said. “Everyone around you is pushing for the same thing. It breeds a good environment. … Everyone really wanted the best for each other, and it was just a great team culture.”
Developing a reputation
The trio of pitchers were the second-most picks to come out of St. Joe’s in one draft. Four Hawks were selected in the 2024: pitchers Matt McShane and Luke Gabrysh, and outfielders Ryan Picollo and Ryan Cesarini.
Gabrysh and Cesarini are playing for the double-A affiliates of the Mets and Guardians, respectively. McShane is with the Red Sox’ high-A affiliate, the Greenville Drive. Picollo was released from the Mariners single-A affiliate in early August.
St. Joe’s has two other players playing in double A, one in triple A, and one in the rookie league. Yacabonis plays for the Diablos Rojos del México in the Mexican League. Of the dozen Hawks still playing, 10 are pitchers.
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The most notable player to come from St. Joe’s, Jamie Moyer, who pitched in the majors for 25 seasons, said this is partially because all teams need good pitching, no matter the level.
“It’s always, ‘We need more pitching,’” said Moyer, a three-sport athlete at Souderton Area High School before his Hawks and major league career that included 2006-10 with the Phillies. “The game doesn’t happen without pitchers.”
Despite being months away, Coppola expects St. Joe’s to continue to get players drafted. Coppola projected that catcher Blake Primrose would be part of the 2027 MLB draft class. He set the single-season program records in home runs (24), runs scored (75), and RBIs (72), and was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and a Buster Posey Award semifinalist as a sophomore in 2026.
No matter what happens in 2027, St. Joe’s has a track record as a local school with draft success over the years, which Hamburg said is a “fun part” of the program that he’s proud of.
But what he remains most proud of is the players he watches every night on MiLB Network, talks to regularly, and learns from every time they come around.
“To have that and those guys remain part of our program, and to know that this is how people see our program, that we’re winning on the field and beyond, has always been a goal for me as a coach in my career, and something I’m very proud of,” Hamburg said. “Happy that those guys are getting to live out their dreams.”
