Another former GLSCL player added his name to the list of alums who have made it to the big leagues. 25-year-old pitcher James Bourque, who played for the Lake Erie Monarchs in 2012, was called up by the Nationals and made his debut on May 26th.

Bourque pitched for the Monarchs in 2012 while playing with the Michigan Wolverines. In the 10 games he pitched that season, he started 6 of them and posted a 3-2 record with a 3.79 ERA. The Monarchs were 21-19 that season. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Nationals. After just one game at the rookie level, Bourque moved up to the Short-Season Single-A level for the rest of 2014. He had Tommy John surgery in 2015 but kept competing at the Full-Season Single-A level in 2016 and 2017.

Up to this point, Bourque had been a starting pitcher, but he was converted to a reliever. His statistics drastically improved. At the Single-A Advanced level, he had a 2.16 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. For the rest of the season, he played in Double-A and had a remarkable 0.92 ERA in 19 2/3 innings. At the start of this season, Bourque went back to Double-A and continued to impress. He went 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in 20 1/3 innings.

This string of success led the Nationals to call him up, and Bourque achieved the goal that every young baseball player dreams of – he made it to the majors. Unfortunately, however, it was not exactly the debut he would have hoped for. In 2/3 of an inning, he gave up 4 earned runs in the ninth inning against the Marlins. He was moved down to the Triple-A level – where he has not played before since he came up from Double-A. Bourque had particularly been a fan favorite due to his outstanding mustache. Though his appearance in the majors was brief, there is still plenty of time left for this 25-year-old to get his second chance and show the world the skills he showed in the minors.

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