By Pete Cava

PBR Indiana Correspondent

Two Indiana-born big leaguers could see action in this year’s postseason. 

Tuesday in New York, the Minnesota Twins play the Yankees in the American League wild-card game.  Jose Berrios is likely to pitch for Minnesota.  If the Twins advance to meet the Cleveland Indians in the A.L. Division Series, Minnesota’s rotation should include right-hander Kyle Gibson. 

In the National League Division Series, the Washington Nationals square off against the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs.  First baseman/outfielder Adam Lind should see action for Washington against right-handed pitching.         

Gibson, a Greenfield native, sat out his sophomore year at Greenfield-Central High School when the IHSAA declared him ineligible after he transferred from Indianapolis Cathedral.  

Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies as a senior, Gibson enrolled at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2006.  The Twins selected him in the first round of the 2009 draft (22nd overall pick).  He joined Minnesota’s starting rotation in June 2013 and logged 32 wins against 38 losses in his first four big-league campaigns.  

This year, the 6-foot-6, 215-pound sinkerball specialist won 12 and lost 10.  He dropped his first four decisions and was demoted to the minor leagues twice.  Since the All-Star break, Gibson went 7-3 and won his last six decisions.  “The timing of his turnaround couldn’t be any better for our club,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.     

Gibson turns 30 on Oct. 23.  

Lind and the Nationals open the best-of-five NLDS against Chicago on Oct. 6.   The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Muncie native, who bats and throws left-handed, could start against Cubs righties.  In 116 games this year, he batted .303 with 14 home runs and 59 runs batted in. 

As a senior at Anderson Highland High School, Lind was Indiana’s Mr. Baseball in 2002.  Drafted in the eighth round that year by Minnesota, he passed up a contract to play for the University of South Alabama.  Toronto took him in the third round of the 2004 draft, and he debuted with the Blue Jays in September 2006. 

In 2009 Lind hit .305 with 35 homers, winning the Edgar Martinez Award as the year’s top designated hitter.  Traded to Milwaukee prior to 2015, he spent a year with the Brewers before moving on to Seattle for 2016.  He signed with Washington last February as a free agent.

Through 12 big-league campaigns, the 34-year-old Lind has 200 home runs and a .272 average.  He developed into one of the game’s top pinch-hitters this season, setting a franchise record for pinch-hit homers.  “He’s been a godsend this year to us,” Nationals skipper Dusty Baker told the Washington Post. 

Lind’s nickname is “Adam Bomb.”

Two more Hoosier natives played for teams in this year’s post-season, but neither is likely to wind up on their clubs’ rosters. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks play the Colorado Rockies in the NL wild-card game Oct. 4.  Outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Muncie) appeared in 41 games for the D-backs this season, batting .346 with two homers.  He spent most of the year with Reno (AAA Pacific Coast).   The 30-year-old Hazelbaker broke in with St. Louis in 2016 after a seven-year minor-league apprenticeship.  He played for Wapahani High School and Ball State University.

Houston Astros first baseman A.J. Reed, a Terre Haute native who starred at Terre Haute South Vigo High School and the University of Kentucky, was this year’s Joe Bauman Award as the home run champion of the minor leagues.  He appeared in 45 games for Houston in 2016 and two more this summer.  He probably won’t be added to the Astros’ roster when they take on the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS.

One other Hoosier in this year’s post-season is New York Yankee bullpen catcher Radley Haddad.  Describing the 27-year-old Columbus native as the “most unlikely Yankee of 2017,” NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty noted that Haddad “won't hit a game-winning home run or make a crucial error.  He won't even appear in a box score, though he'll play a role in every game.”

Haddad is a Brebeuf Jesuit High School graduate who played college ball for Western Carolina and Butler.  He signed with the Yanks as a non-drafted free agent in 2013 and spent four seasons playing for New York farm clubs.  Just before opening day this year, he retired to take the job the big club’s bullpen catcher. 

Pete Cava is the author of “Tales From the Cubs Dugout” and “Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014.”