Josh Kuroda-Grauer is headed straight into the spotlight for his first big-league game.
The Rutgers baseball alumnus has been called up by the Athletics and will make his MLB debut tonight against the Dodgers in Sacramento. Wearing No. 44, Kuroda-Grauer is set to start at second base and hit ninth, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 p.m.
His rise has been fast. Drafted 75th overall in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft, Kuroda-Grauer has moved quickly through the Athletics’ minor league pipeline.
He’s hitting .323 this season across Double-A and Triple-A, and after a May promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas, he has batted .352 in 42 games for the Aviators. That stretch includes a home run, 12 doubles, three triples and 49 runs scored.
Kuroda-Grauer is also giving Rutgers another major-league name to celebrate this season. He’s the second Scarlet Knight to reach the big leagues in 2024, following Brian Fitzpatrick, who debuted for the Brewers on April 29. The two are the first Rutgers players under head coach Steve Owens to get to MLB, and the last time Rutgers had two former players in the majors was Brian O'Grady and Patrick Kivlehan in 2021.
Back in Piscataway, Kuroda-Grauer built a resume that made this moment feel inevitable. He was the 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year, becoming the first Rutgers player to win a major Big Ten award since the school joined the conference in 2015. He also collected All-America recognition from five outlets, including First Team honors from Perfect Game, and added All-Big Ten First Team, Brooks Wallace Award finalist, Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist to the list.
The Somerset, New Jersey native put together one of the best seasons in Rutgers history in 2024. He started all 53 games at shortstop, led the nation in regular-season hits with 95 and hits per game at 1.79, hit .428 to rank second nationally, stole 24 bases and made just seven errors. He also piled up 29 multi-hit games, 10 three-hit games and had a run of five straight games with at least three hits.
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