Southern Maryland Native LJay Newsome Makes His MLB Debut for the Seattle Mariners

August 21, 2020

LJay Newsome is a 23-year-old La Plata native and current Mechanicsville resident who attended, and graduated from Chopticon High School.

In five minor-league seasons, Newsome posted a 30-32 record with a 4.11 ERA, 62 walks and 472 strikeouts in 499 innings.

His scouting report puts his stats into view. “The strike-throwing for Newsome is exceptional, as he carries a phenomenal 1.1 BB/9 rate for his career into the 2020 season. He’s willing to throw any of his pitches at any point in the count and does a nice job keeping hitters off-balance, so while his ceiling is limited to that of a back-end starter, there’s more confidence that he could get there, or at least fill a swingman role in the big leagues soon.”

Newsome was signed by Seattle Mariners on August 15, and made his debut on Thursday, August 20, 2020, for Seattle in the 6th inning while playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers while down multiple runs. While playing the final 3 innings, Newsome only allowed one run, no walks, and recorded his first strikeout against Austin Barnes, who currently has 18 home runs and 86 runs batted in for the 2020 season.

We look forward to LJay getting more major league game time! The next game Seattle plays is against the Texas Rangers tonight, Friday, August 21, 2020, at 9:00 p.m.