Back in April, the Daily Trojan previewed the 2025 MLB season with a look at three Trojan alums who figured to start the season on major league rosters. At the time, 119 former USC players had gone on to play in the big leagues, just one behind Texas for the most of any school in the nation.

Two months later, a June check-in revealed that six Trojans had appeared for MLB teams in the first half of the season — including Seattle Mariners outfielder Rhylan Thomas, whose debut in May marked the 120th in USC history, tying Texas at the top of the leaderboard.

Now, USC can officially reclaim its crown as the No. 1 producer of baseball talent in the country: Washington Nationals catcher CJ Stubbs, who made his MLB debut on Sept. 1, brought the all-time total of Trojan big leaguers to 121.

On an offensive level, Stubbs’ first stint in the majors was unceremonious; he went 0-for-3 in his lone appearance before being sent back down to Washington’s Triple-A affiliate the next day. However, Stubbs shined behind the plate, becoming the first catcher in Nationals history to catch a shutout in his debut.

Though he made it to the majors as a catcher, Stubbs spent the majority of his time with USC as a pitcher — and a solid one at that. 

As a freshman, Stubbs compiled a 3.86 ERA in 2016 — good for second-best among Trojan starters that year — along with 27 strikeouts across 42 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.38 led USC pitchers by a decent margin, and his 1.26 WHIP trailed only pitcher Brooks Kriske — now a fellow MLB player.

Stubbs’ efficiency on the mound saw a significant decline in his sophomore season, however, and after missing the 2018 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, he made the move to full-time catcher for the Trojans.

In his one full season as a catcher, Stubbs was one of USC’s most productive hitters, mashing six home runs with 35 RBIs to the tune of an 0.844 OPS. His performance was enough to catch the eye of the Houston Astros, who took him 316th overall in the 10th round of the 2019 MLB draft.

It was not an easy path to the majors for Stubbs, who spent the next five years bouncing around various levels of the Astros organization before eventually being released in May 2024. A week later, the Nationals signed him as a free agent, putting him on the path to his major league debut the next year.

In reaching the majors, Stubbs joins his brother, Garrett, who also played for USC before being drafted by Houston in 2015. A fellow catcher, Garrett is in his seventh MLB season, having played a part-time role for the Astros and, currently, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The brothers both represented Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, a tournament featuring plenty of other Trojan alums, including St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar and Boston Red Sox pitcher Robert Stock.

Stubbs’ first shot in the big leagues may have been brief, but on a Nationals team missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year and lacking consistency at the catcher position, it seems like a safe bet that the 28-year-old will find himself another opportunity sooner rather than later.