One of the Newest Tigers Prospects Pitched for Hillsdale

Zane Barnhart moved to Michigan six years ago to attend Hillsdale College and pitch for the Charger baseball team. Now he is coming back to the mitten after being traded to the Detroit Tigers last week.

The Medina, Ohio, native committed to the Chargers in September 2019 and pitched for Hillsdale for three seasons. After his junior year, he entered the transfer portal, committing to West Virginia University before being drafted in the 17th round that summer by the Baltimore Orioles, something that Barnhart thought might be possible after his sophomore campaign with the Chargers.

“After my sophomore year at Hillsdale I went and played in the Alaska Baseball League for two months. I pitched pretty well against almost all DI guys, so going into junior year I knew if I could add a mile-per-hour or two and work on my offspeed there’s definitely a chance.”

Barnhart finished out the 2023 MiLB season with the Delmarva Shorebirds. After spending a couple seasons between the Shorebirds in Single-A and Aberdeen Ironbirds in High-A, Barnhart had made the Orioles Double-A Chesapeake Baysox, who would be the last team Barnhart would play for in the Orioles organization before being traded.

“Thursday started as a normal day.” Barnhart said, “I had catch play earlier on in the day and had eaten the pregame spread and was about to start getting ready for the game and our pitching coordinator for the Orioles called me. When I saw he was calling me I kind of knew something was going on.”

Barnhart was about to find out that he had been traded to the Tigers for their longtime catcher Jake Rogers, who less than a week later was traded by the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox.

“[My coach] said this is a bittersweet moment but that he wanted to congratulate me and that I had been traded to the Tigers, then I went back into the clubhouse and told my teammates. It was super exciting but definitely out of nowhere.”

Despite playing collegiate baseball in Michigan, Barnhart had no connection or fandom of the Tigers, but a few of his Hillsdale teammates were more than excited.

“Right when the trade happened, it felt like everyone on the team reached out and were freaking out. It’s just exciting to be a part of a Michigan org again. The only times I’ve ever been to Detroit is when we would play Wayne State up there. I have wanted to go see that stadium and some others for some time. I was planning on going up there once the season is over because I love seeing all the stadiums.”

Now, Barnhart has been assigned to the Tigers' Double-A team, the Erie Seawolves, who play in Pennsylvania, a four-hour drive from Comerica Park.

“Thursday I was supposed to have a game in Altoona, and after I found out about the trade I waited for a taxi service to come get me and ended up in Erie that same night.”

Barnhart ended up pitching one inning for the Seawolves on Saturday against the Akron Rubberducks, allowing one run and tossing one strikeout. If called up, Barnhart could be the first Charger ever to wear the Ol’ English D.