The 2025 MLB season has officially entered the stretch run. And with it, September roster expansion is upon us. Former USC baseball catcher recently CJ Stubbs became a beneficiary of this, as he was called up to the Washington Nationals and made his MLB debut on Monday.
Stubbs went 0-for-3 in his debut. He started behind the plate and caught all nine innings in Washington’s 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins.
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Stubbs played at USC from 2016-2019. He played both pitcher and catcher for his first two seasons with the Trojans, before deciding to focus exclusively on catching. After missing the entire 2018 season with an injury, he returned as a redshirt junior in 2019 and hit .285 with six home runs and 35 RBIs.
The Houston Astros selected Stubbs in the 10th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and he signed with the team. After five years in the organization, he was released by Houston in 2024, and subsequently signed a minor league deal with Washington.
Stubbs’s older brother Garrett also played at USC from 2012-2015, and is now a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Stubbs brothers are two of 121 Trojans to appear in an MLB game, the most players of any school.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC baseball’s CJ Stubbs makes MLB debut with Washington Nationals