HIGH POINT, N.C. -- On July 28, 2020, in a pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season, former High Point University baseball standout Andre Scrubb became the fourth Panther in the program's 84 seasons to appear in an MLB game, and the third in the Craig Cozart coaching era when he took the mound for the Houston Astros against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This past Saturday (Oct. 17), Scrubb and the Astros saw their season end in the American League Championship Series, but not before Scrubb made his presence felt in the bigs.
 
Any major-league debut is special by nature of the event, but Scrubb's first game at the pinnacle of baseball had a little something extra to it. Coming into the game in the fifth inning, Scrubb was making his debut against the team that drafted and developed him for three years before trading him to the Astros last summer.
 
Scrubb was taken in the 8th round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Players Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent the remainder of 2016 in rookie ball with the Arizona Dodgers before spending all of 2017 and part of 2018 in the Single-A Midwest League with the Great Lakes Loons where he was a Mid-Season All-Star in 2018. Scrubb was called up to Rancho Cucamonga in Advanced A and then to AA with the Tulsa Drillers to finish the 2018 season. He started the 2019 season with the Drillers before the trade and he finished the year still in AA with the Corpus Christi Hooks.
 
Not only were the emotions elevated for Scrubb in facing his former organization, but he also didn't enter the game in the easiest of situations either - coming in with the bases loaded and one out. After a walk to the first batter he faced, Scrubb settled in and was able to induce an inning-ending double play to get out of the inning mostly unscathed. He remained in the game for two more full innings, picking up two strikeouts while retiring the side in the sixth before three weak hits that didn't make it out of the infield sent the game into the eighth where his debut ended.
 
"It was an amazing experience to debut against the Dodgers," Scrubb had to say looking back. "The bases-loaded jam and being able to get out of it will be something I'll never forget. My good friend Dustin May [on the Dodgers] was there and texted me after the game."
 
Three days later Scrubb was back on the bump for the 'Stros, this time in the ninth inning against Los Angeles's other team - the Angels - looking for his first major-league save. He once again came through with a scoreless inning, picking up another strikeout on the way to the save. Scoreless innings of work became a theme of the start to Scrubb's career as the right-hander went 10 outings over 13 innings before allowing his first run on Aug. 25 - a sacrifice fly to those same Angels. Scrubb picked up his first career win in the bigs a week earlier pitching the top of the 11th in a pitcher's duel against the Colorado Rockies before a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th plated the winning run in Houston to secure Scrubb's victory.
 
"My mindset this season was just to give it everything I had no matter the situation or how I was feeling," Scrubb described of his early-season success. "I think that's how you have to approach everything if you want to succeed."
 
With the season winding down in September and the Astros in the hunt for a playoff spot, manager Dusty Baker continued to turn to the rookie from Fort Bragg, N.C. Scrubb pitched in nine of Houston's games in the final month of the regular season, racking up 11 strikeouts in 10.2 innings of work. He ended his regular season with an ERA of 1.90 and a record of 1-0 with one save in 20 outings. Scrubb pitched 23.2 innings and gave up five runs while striking out 24 with 20 walks and 15 hits.
 
Scrubb's success in the Major League was no surprise to Cozart, who has been following him since he left High Point. "Watching Andre reach the pinnacle of professional baseball and perform in the playoffs was a really proud moment for not only me as a coach but also us as a program," Cozart said of his former pupil. "He is a great story and he's worked tremendously hard over the last few years to get to this point and the success that he as achieved is well deserved."
 
The Astros made the MLB postseason by way of the expanded playoff, entering as the final seed in the American League. After dispatching the Minnesota Twins in the Wild-Card Series, Houston matched up with the Oakland Athletics in an American League Divisional Series. Scrubb made his postseason debut in the third game of that series, throwing yet another scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. The Astros took care of the A's in four games, setting up a showdown with the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS.
 
Scrubb pitched in three games in the ALCS, throwing in games two, five, and six. He sat down all three batters he faced in the eighth inning of game two, notching two more strikeouts in the contest before picking up another two Ks in game six as part of a four-out effort. Scrubb pitched two-thirds of an inning in game six of the series - the penultimate game of the Astro's season - bringing his postseason totals to seven strikeouts in four innings of work with one run (a solo home run) for an ERA of 2.25
 
"[Pitching in the postseason] was unbelievable," explained Scrubb after the season. "The veterans on the team definitely laid the foundation for this team. They were awesome in helping us rookies develop into the guys we were out there. The postseason was a lot of fun and I hope to be back next year."
 
Scrubb currently ranks 10th in career wins (16) and career strikeouts (189) in HPU's record books. His final season in the Purple and White in 2016 was a special one, as his 94 strikeouts are the seventh-most in a single season in program history while his 11.43 strikeouts per nine innings that year is the fifth-best among all Panthers.