Division II's Postseason Impact: A Team-by-Team Breakdown
- Robert Frey
- Sep 29
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 5
As the 2025 MLB postseason gets underway, a number of players who honed their skills at Division II schools are ready to contribute to their teams' postseason aspirations. Here's a look at the DII talent on each playoff team, organized by league and seeding. This is only going to look at players actively on the team’s 40-man roster.
For the schedule of the 2025 MLB Postseason to potentially watch these players, go here.
American League
No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays (Division Winner)
Louis Varland (RHP-4th season): Varland, who was traded to the Blue Jays on deadline day, played for Concordia University-St. Paul from 2017 to 2019. In his career there, Varland went 10-6 with a 2.73 ERA over 115.1 innings, totaling 131 strikeouts. In the 2025 MLB season, Varland had a 2.97 ERA in 74 appearances, with 75 strikeouts in 72.2 innings. With the Blue Jays, Varland carries a 4.94 ERA over 23 games with 28 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. He will be a big part of the Jays’ postseason push out of the bullpen, averaging 98 miles-per-hour on his fastball.
No. 2 Seattle Mariners (Division Winner)
Luke Raley (OF/1B-5th season): Raley attended Lake Erie College from 2014-2016. In his final season, he batted .426 with 12 home runs and a 1.314 OPS. In 2025, Raley has a .202 batting average with 4 home runs and 19 RBI and will likely be a platoon bat off the bench for the Mariners.
No. 3 Cleveland Guardians (Division Winner)
Matt Festa (RHP-6th season): Festa is the one of two with the luxury of having played for two Division II schools. Festa pitched for Dominican (NY) in 2012, before transferring to East Stroudsburg, where he pitched from 2014-2016. In his final season at East Stroudsburg, he finished with an 11-2 record and a 2.35 ERA over 88 innings. In 2025, he has appeared in 63 games in relief (54.2 innings) with a 4.12 ERA, as he is a key piece in the Guardians’ bullpen.
No. 4 New York Yankees (Wild Card)
Jayvien Sandridge (LHP-1st season): Sandridge made his major league debut and only appearance with the Yankees on July 5th, pitching ⅔ of an inning. Sandridge pitched in 4 games at Lynn in 2021, posting a 3.12 ERA. Given his only appearance in July, it is unlikely he appears on the Yankees’ postseason roster.
No. 5 Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)
Brennan Bernardino (LHP-4th season): A key lefty out of the bullpen, Bernardino played for California State University, Dominguez Hills from 2013-2014, with his best season coming in 2014 when he went 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA over 62 innings. In 2025, Bernardino has a 3.14 ERA over 51.2 innings pitched (55 appearances). He will be relied upon to get lefties out this postseason out of the bullpen.
Zack Kelly (RHP-4th season): Another bullpen arm, Kelly is the other of two to have played for two Division II schools. Kelly pitched for Concord in 2014 and 2015 and pitched for Newberry College in 2016 and 2017. He had a 3.36 ERA over 168.2 innings with 177 strikeouts in his career at Newberry. In 2025, Kelly has a 4.58 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 35.1 innings across 28 appearances. He is considered a bubble player for the postseason roster, but can be impactful with his 96 miles-per-hour fastball and his sweeper that averages 17.2 inches of horizontal movement (tied for 11th best horizontal movement of sweepers in the MLB).
No. 6 Detroit Tigers (Wild Card)
Tanner Rainey (RHP-8th season): Rainey pitched for the University of West Alabama from 2014-2015 and was nothing short of dominant there. Over 49.1 innings over two seasons, Rainey struck out 79 batters to the tune of a 1.28 ERA with 15 saves. In 2025, Rainey appeared in just two games for the Tigers, including the final day of the regular season where he pitched two scoreless innings. Rainey is considered a bubble player for the postseason roster.
Tommy Kahnle (RHP-11th season): A veteran MLB reliever, Kahnle played at Lynn University from 2008-2010 and was a part of the 2009 National Championship team. In 2025 over 66 games, Kahnle pitched to a 4.43 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 63 innings, as he will be a key piece of the Tigers’ bullpen during the playoffs.
National League
No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers (Division Winner)
Bruce Zimmerman (LHP-5th season): Zimmerman is a left-handed pitcher who played at the University of Mount Olive from 2016-2017. He went 18-5 with a 3.19 ERA in two seasons there, striking out 241 batters over 197.2 innings. This season, He went six innings in his lone appearance with the Brewers on September 23, so it is unlikely we see him on the postseason roster.
Chad Patrick (RHP-1st season): Patrick made his major league debut on March 29th for the Brewers and ended the regular season with a 3.53 ERA over 119.2 innings (23 starts). He pitched for Purdue University Northwest from 2018-2021. He had his best season in 2021, going 5-2 with a 1.97 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 64 innings. Given the depth of the Brewers rotation, he may come out of the bullpen in the Division Series due the shorter series length, but may find his way back in the rotation should the Brewers advance.
Jared Koenig (LHP-3rd season): Koenig spent his final collegiate season and lone season in 2016 at CCAA school Cal State Monterey Bay, going 3-1 with a 4.57 ERA over 61 innings. Koenig has now posted back-to-back seasons with an ERA under 3 (2.86 in 2025) over 60+ innings in relief. He'll be a big piece to a potential pathway for a deep Brewers postseason run.
No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies (Division Winner)
Tim Mayza (LHP-8th season): A reliable left-handed pitcher, Mayza played for Millersville University of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2013. In his final collegiate season, he went 11-3 with a 1.55 ERA over 98.2 innings. In 2025, he has made 15 total appearances, with a 3.78 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 16.2 innings. With the Phillies, Mayza has appeared in 8 games (7.1 innings) with a 4.91 ERA. While considered a bubble player for the postseason roster, he will be a key piece to get lefties out for the Phillies.
Otto Kemp (INF/OF-1st season): A utility infielder on the 40-man roster, Kemp played for Point Loma Nazarene University from 2019-2022. In his final season there, he hit .364 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI and reached base in every game he played. In 2025, he made his major league debut on June 7th. He has a .236 batting average with eight home runs and 28 RBI on the season. Kemp is likely to be a bat off the bench/utility defensive replacement in the playoffs.
Lou Trivino (RHP-6th season): A veteran reliever who has played for three teams this season, Trivino played for Slippery Rock University from 2011 to 2013. He went 15-8 with a 1.98 ERA over 213.2 innings in his career there. In 2025, he has played for the Giants, the Dodgers, and was signed by the Phillies on August 4th, where he appeared in 10 games (9 innings) with a 2.00 ERA.With his recent success, he has likely pitched his way onto the postseason roster with his 95 miles-per-hour fastball.
No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers (Division Winner)
Alex Vesia (LHP-6th season): A left-handed reliever in the bigs, Vesia played college ball at Cal State East Bay from 2015-2018. He went 8-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 2018 over 78.2 innings. Vesia has a 3.02 ERA in 2025 with 80 strikeouts over 59.2 innings. Vesia is considered one of the top-end arms in the Dodger bullpen and is amongst the major league leaders in strikeout rate for relievers at 33.8 percent.
Justin Dean (OF-1st season): A speedy outfielder on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, Dean played for Lenoir-Rhyne University from 2016-2018. In his career there, he hit .367 over 667 plate appearances. He made his major league debut on August 8th and has limited MLB experience with only 2 at-bats, so it is unlikely that we see him on the postseason roster. The only opportunity he may get is as a pinch runner on the roster.
Tanner Scott (LHP-9th season): Scott played for now-defunct Notre Dame College in 2013, going 3-4 with a 4.86 ERA before transferring to the junior college ranks where he would be drafted. Scott in 2025 is the closer for the Dodgers, racking up 23 saves with a 4.74 ERA over 57 innings with a fastball that averages 96.5 miles-per-hour.
No. 4 Chicago Cubs (Wild Card)
None
No. 5 San Diego Padres (Wild Card)
None
No. 6 Cincinnati Reds (Wild Card)
Emilio Pagán (RHP-9th season): The closer of the Reds' bullpen, Pagán was a two-way player for Belmont Abbey College from 2012-2013. In 2012, Pagán had a perfect 0.00 ERA with 13 saves over 21.1 innings and hit .292 with 18 stolen bases. In 2025, Pagán made 70 appearances with a 2.88 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 68.2 innings pitched, recording 32 saves (tied for 5th in the MLB). Pagán averages 95.8 miles-per-hour on his fastball.
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