The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are set to compete in the 2024 World Series beginning this Friday, Oct. 25. Both teams have swarms of talented players. Many of those talented players were just as good during their days in college baseball. Here is a look back at some of the players in the 2024 World Series who were also great in college.
Gerrit Cole – UCLA Bruins
Before his successful MLB career, the New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole spent his college years playing for the UCLA Bruins.
In 49 career starts for UCLA, he finished with a 3.38 ERA and struck out 376 opposing batters. This put him second on the Bruins’ all-time career strikeout leader list. He is also top five in school history in career innings, career starts, and the single-season strikeout list (153 in the 2010 season).
He ranks 6th all-time in Pac-12 history in career strikeouts as well. His career-best strikeout game came during his sophomore season in 2010 when he sat 15 batters down in a win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It was one of 11 wins that season for Cole as he finished with an 11-4 record.
Later that season, Cole helped UCLA advance to the national championship series in Omaha, Neb. He pitched in game one against the South Carolina Gamecocks but lost. Eventually, the Bruins finished as national runners-up that season.
The New York Yankees drafted Cole in the first round.
Walker Buehler – Vanderbilt Commodores
Walker Buehler pitched in Nashville for Vanderbilt under head coach Tim Corbin from 2013-2015. He was a member of the Commodores’ 2014 national championship team that also featured another big leaguer in Dansby Swanson.
He had sub-3.15 ERAs in all three seasons with Vanderbilt and recorded 260 strikeouts in his entire career. This includes 111 during the 2014 national championship season. That same season, he finished with a 12-2 record and an ERA of 2.64.
