With the Humboldt Crabs baseball season being in full swing, it’s only fitting that a couple of Crabs alumni are finding their groove at the professional rank, with four former Crabs players having seen time in Major League Baseball so far this season.
Currently, there are two Crabs in MLB with another two in Triple-A. David Hamilton is still manning a utility role with the Boston Red Sox, while David Morgan has locked down a spot in the San Diego Padres bullpen.
Hamilton returned to Northern California with a bang, as he homered against the San Francisco Giants last week, with Hamilton’s home run being the difference in a 7-5 Boston win. On the season, Hamilton is batting just .178 with three home runs and 12 stolen bases but Hamilton’s value comes with his defensive versatility, having played at second base, shortstop and third base already this season.
After debuting in 2023, Hamilton created a role for himself with the Red Sox, appearing in 168 MLB games while posting a career batting average of .221 with 11 home runs and 47 steals.
Humboldt Crabs shortstop David Hamilton, right, tags out the Auburn Wildcats Jack Veasey as he dives back into second base in 2016. Hamilton is in his third season with the Boston Red Sox. – Shaun Walker — The Times-Standard
After making his debut in May, the Padres have gotten good results from Morgan, as he’s posted a 2.70 earned run average over a dozen relief appearances with San Diego. Morgan racked up 17 strikeouts and allowed four earned runs over 13.1 innings pitched. Morgan’s ability to get the strikeout has quickly made him a viable Major League arm, as he’s striking out 30.4% of batters faced this season.
It didn’t take Morgan long to work his way up to MLB after going undrafted in the 2022 MLB Draft. Morgan had a career 4.77 ERA in the minor leagues but he still showed that he was capable of getting the strikeout, totaling 143 punchouts in 122.2 innings.
Dodgers outfielder James Outman has ping-ponged back and forth from the Los Angeles’ Major League team and their Triple-A team in Oklahoma City the past few years. So far in 2025, Outman has played just nine MLB games, going 3-24 at the plate with two home runs but he currently finds himself back down in the minors.
Outman is crushing Triple-A pitching in Oklahoma City, batting .273 with 18 home runs in 62 games this season. The 18 home runs is just one shy of the Pacific Coast League lead despite the fact Outman has spent almost two weeks of this season with the Dodgers’ big league club.
The final Humboldt Crabs to see MLB action this season is pitcher Jason Alexander, who’s pitched with both the Athletics and the Houston Astros so far this season. Alexander began the 2025 season by splitting time with the A’s and their Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, before the A’s designated Alexander for assignment in May. The Astros claimed Alexander off waivers and assigned him to their Triple-A team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
Alexander has mostly been with the Space Cowboys, with the exception of three days earlier this month when the Astros called him up to their MLB team. During the three-day stint with Houston, Alexander pitched, and started, in one where he went six innings, allowed two runs and picked up a win against the A’s. In the minors this year, Alexander has an ERA of 1.32 and a record of 4-0 over 47.2 innings.
Of the Crabs’ four former players who played in MLB this year, three of them were a part of the 2016 Crabs team, with Morgan being the only exception, as he played on Humboldt’s 2021 team.