Carson McCusker’s incredible and improbable journey through the baseball world delivered him to a point not many thought he would have arrived just two years ago.

Two summers ago, McCusker was playing independent baseball in Troy, N.Y., for the third straight season after the Spanish Springs High graduate wasn’t drafted following his senior season at Oklahoma State.

Shortly after we talked to McCusker in 2023 about his life in indy ball, McCusker was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a 25-year-old non-prospect who was sent to Low-A, making him one of the oldest players in the Florida State League.

After the 6-foot-8, 250-pound outfielder blasted his way through the minor leagues, McCusker was called up to the majors over the weekend, making his big-league debut Sunday during the Twins game at Milwaukee. McCusker grounded out to the pitcher in his debut.

In the process, McCusker became the second Spanish Springs graduate to reach the majors and first local product to make his debut since Nevada Wolf Pack alum Trenton Brooks did so last summer. McCusker has one of the most improbable career paths of any Northern Nevada native to get to the majors. The other Spanish Springs alum to make it to the majors, knuckleballer Mickey Jannis, who played one game for Baltimore in 2021, also had a crazy story that ran through the independent leagues.

McCusker was a good-but-not great player at Spanish Springs, hitting .305 with four homers as a senior for the Cougars in 2016, who recalled he was a “slap-it-the-other-way kind of guy.” The turning point in his career came at Folsom Lake College where his coach, Rich Gregory, changed his approach to try and tap into his massive size. His goal at the time of joining the junior college was to walk on at Nevada, but he played well enough to get an offer from the Big 12’s Oklahoma State.

McCusker was drafted after his freshman season at Folsom when he was a junior-college All-American. Instead of turning pro after being a 26th-round pick by the Brewers in 2017, he joined Oklahoma State. Battling injuries over his three Division I seasons, McCusker hit .292 with 23 homers and 103 RBIs in 148 games, slugging .517. That wasn’t enough to be drafted, which paved the way for him to play with the Tri-City Valley Cats of the Frontier League, which has produced big-leaguers over the years but is unaffiliated baseball generally for players hoping to get a little money to play the sport with no chance of making the big leagues.

After two solid seasons with Tri-City, McCusker in 2023 was off to a torrid start to the season — he hit .433/.480/.822 with 17 homers in 37 games — before the Twins signed him to a minor-league deal. McCusker spent that 2023 season in Single-A, moved to Double-A last year before making his Triple-A debut. And this season, he was hitting .350/.412/.650 with 10 homers in 38 games for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints before being called up to the majors over the weekend. Given his size, there’s some swing-and-miss to McCusker’s game, but few have the power to match the 26-year-old (he turns 27 on Wednesday).

McCusker joins a streaking Twins team that had won 13 in a row before Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Milwaukee. Minnesota is 26-21 overall, five games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central but just half a game out of the final wild-card spot.

When we talked to McCusker in the summer 2023, he said playing pro baseball, even at the independent level, was a wish fulfilled.

“It’s a dream come true,” McCusker said back then. “No matter what level it’s at, I’m just thankful to be playing because one day you’ve got to hang them up. This is definitely special to me.”