FREDERICK, MD – Spring training has arrived for Major League Baseball, and with it comes the second annual Spring Breakout games set to start Thursday, March 13. Five former Keys players including catcher Brock Tibbitts (2024), outfielder Garrett Martin (2023), and pitchers Jonah Tong (2022), Ronan Kopp (2021), and Jonathan Pintaro (2021) and 2022) will all take part in the showcase that tries to bring Minor League talent over to Major League rosters before the regular season begins.
Tibbitts will be one of three catchers for the Toronto Blue Jays in the Spring Breakout games, after competing for the Dunedin Blue Jays late last summer following his time with the Keys. In six games for Frederick, the New Albany, Ohio native finished with two RBIs and a .238 average, and became the starting catcher before heading to the MLB Draft Combine later in June.
After playing for two Minor League clubs last year, Martin joins five other outfielders as part of the New York Yankees roster. Most recently, the former Austin Peay product competed for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League and hit five homers in 19 games on the season. He also competed in and won the 2024 Fall League Home Run Derby.
Tong comes into the Spring Breakout as the No. 6 ranked pitcher on the roster for the New York Mets and aims to build off a stellar 2024 season in affiliated baseball. Throughout 18.2 innings for the St. Lucie Mets, the Markham, Canada native recorded a 0.00 ERA and allowed five walks while compiling 36 strikeouts in the always competitive Florida League.
Joining Tong on the Mets roster is Pintaro, who enters as the No. 24 ranked pitcher in the Mets organization. During this past year, he played for five different teams in affiliated and independent baseball and compiled a 2.68 ERA in 74 innings pitched across three teams in the Mets organization.
Kopp joins the Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Breakout roster as one of two left-handed pitchers. Kopp got his first taste of Spring Training action over the last several weeks and has recorded a 5.40 ERA across 1.2 innings, after pitching 35 games of relief for Double A-Tulsa last summer.
The first Spring Breakout games begin on Thursday, March 13 and will run through Sunday, March 16. Fans can tune in to all games on MLB.com and MLB.TV.
