With only about a month left in the MiLB season, some former WVU Baseball players are finishing strong with their professional squads.
Skylar King and Logan Sauve headline this week’s news after both former Mountaineers were called up to the next level in their respective organizations. Read more: Around the Farm #9: Two former Mountaineers called up to next level.
Overall, a handful of former WVU pitchers were amongst some of the best performers this past week, and Victor Scott II is on an impressive streak.
Stay tuned until the end to find out who this week’s Mountaineer MiLB Player of the Week is.
Related: Around the Farm #8: Final summer leagues coverage plus an MiLB debut
Mountaineer call ups
For the fourth week in a row, a former WVU Baseball player has been called up.
This past week, Skylar King of the Boston Red Sox organization and catcher Logan Sauve of the Athletics organization were on the move to the next highest level.
King was called up Tuesday from the Single-A Salem RidgeYaks to the High-A Greenville Drive.
Up until then, King played with the RidgeYaks for the entirety of the 2026 season. He has had some impressive accomplishments, including hitting for a cycle in reverse order earlier in the season.
Related: Around the Farm #2.5: former WVU Baseball player Skylar King hits cycle
The 22-year-old outfielder played three games with the Drive this past week. His best game came Thursday, hitting a double against the Winston-Salem Dash.
King played for WVU from 2023-25. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 15th round of the 2025 MLB draft as a junior.
Sauve was called up Thursday from the High-A Lansing Lugnuts to the Double-A Midland RockHounds.
It marks the second time the 23-year-old catcher has been called up this season. He started the season with the Single-A Stockton Ports.
In Sauve’s first two games with the RockHounds, he has totaled three hits. He also stole one base in both games.
Sauve also played for WVU from 2023-25 and was selected in the 2025 MLB draft. The Athletics took him with the 200th overall pick.
Several pitchers pick up wins and saves
This past week, several former WVU Baseball pitchers had strong outings, picking up wins and saves.
Pitchers who picked up a win this past week were Griffin Kirn of the Lansing Lugnuts and Carlson Reed of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Kirn led the Lugnuts to victory over the Peoria Chiefs Wednesday, pitching two innings in relief. He struck out two batters and only allowed one run.
Kirn also pitched for two innings in the final game of the series Sunday, helping the Lugnuts to a 5-0 victory.
Reed was the winning pitcher Saturday in the Grasshoppers’ 7-2 victory over the Bowling Green Hot Rods.
Reed pitched 1.1 innings, striking out one batter and allowing no runs.
The Grasshoppers also won its game against the Hot Rods on Wednesday, 5-6. Reed pitched one inning with no runs.
Additionally, Reese Bassinger of the Dunedin Blue Jays and Carson Estridge of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers picked up saves this past week.
Bassinger appeared in two games and recorded a save in both contests. He pitched a total of 3.2 innings and has two strikeouts in both games.
Estridge only appeared in one game this past week and pitched one inning. He recorded one strike out and allowed no hits and no runs in his save performance.
Bassinger and Estridge were both signed as undrafted free agents following the 2026 MLB Draft.
Although he was not a winning pitcher, David Hagaman of the Amarillo Sod Poodles had the most strikeouts in one game of former Mountaineers this past week with five.
Victor Scott II building an impressive streak
Victor Scott II of the Memphis Redbirds was the best hitter of former WVU Baseball players this past week.
Scott appeared in five games for the Red Birds and had at least one hit in every game.
His best performance was Tuesday, when he had two hits and two RBI against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Scott’s hit streak goes beyond this past week as he has recorded at least one hit in his past eight appearances.
Scott started the season in the MLB with the St. Louis Cardinals, but was optioned to Triple-A in June.
Looking ahead to the playoffs
The MiLB playoffs are not too far off, with Single-A and High-A beginning their Divisional series on September 8. Double-A begins its playoffs on September 15, while Triple-A begins September 22.
So far, four teams with WVU players have already qualified for the playoffs by having the best record in the first half of the season; Bowling Green Hot Rods (Jack Kartsonas), Hartford Yard Goats (Tevin Tucker), Richmond Flying Squirrels (Tyler Switalski), and Memphis Redbirds (Victor Scott II).
The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Carson Estridge), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Carlson Reed), Hudson Valley Renegades (Kyle West), Greenville Dash (Skylar King), Great Lakes Loons (Robby Porco), Amarillo Sod Poodles (David Hagaman), and Durham Bulls (Michael Grove) are teams to watch to potentially win the second half of their respective divisions.
Mountaineer MiLB player of the week
This week, I am going to name Reese Bassinger the Mountaineer MiLB player of the week.
Overall, Bassinger has only been playing professionally for about a month and has recently gotten more playing time. His two saves this week prove he is an intriguing prospect despite going undrafted.
That wraps up another edition of “Around the Farm.” The series will continue until the end of the MiLB season, or up until the Triple-A World Series, should any Mountaineers play in the series.
Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WV Athletics coverage by downloading the WV Sports Nation app.
