Stiever to make big league debut Sunday

For the third time this season, a former Indiana pitcher has been called upon to make his big league debut.

This time, it’s Jonathan Stiever.

According to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, Stiever is set to get the nod for Sunday’s series finale against Detroit. A fifth-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Stiever has never pitched above High-A, though he’s been stationed at Chicago’s alternate training site — which equates to a Double-A/Triple-A instructional league — for the bulk of the summer. Both Fangraphs and MLB Pipeline consider him the No. 6 overall prospect in the White Sox organization.

Last summer, the 23-year-old pitched to a combined 3.48 ERA, while yielding 144 hits and striking out 154 batters in 145 innings between Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem.

When he throws his first pitch, Stiever will follow San Francisco’s Caleb Baragar and Boston’s Kyle Hart as the third former Indiana player to debut in the major leagues this season. He’ll also become the 10th former Hoosier to reach baseball’s highest level since 2013.