By: Aaron Morse 6/28/22
Two former baseball players at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse are playing well enough to get the call to the major leagues, but have yet to hear the phone ring. Former teammates for the Eagles, Taylor Kohlwey (Holmen, WI) and Caleb Boushley (Hortonville, WI) are patiently waiting their turn in AAA and playing about as well as they can.
Kohlwey is the Padres system playing for the El Paso Chihuahuas and is hitting an extremely strong slash line of .333/.425/.514 with seven homers and 40 RBI. He has hit over .300 in his previous two years in the minors, as well, showing that he can be a consistently productive hitter.
Of course, at UW-L, Taylor showed that he was one of the best hitters in the entire country as he had a 51 game hit streak that ended in his final game as an Eagle in a season that he hit .487. (For all the records both Taylor and Caleb have at UW-L, you can go to the bottom of the story)
Currently, the starting outfielders for the Padres are converted infielder Jurickson Profar, former Milwaukee Brewer Trent Grisham, and Wil Myers (on the injured list), with Nomar Mazara and Jose Azocar as their backups. When Fernando Tatis Jr. gets healthy he seems to be in the mix as well. It is a solid outfield, but not anything too special in San Diego, but yet Kohlwey seems to be blocked by players the organization like more. Either that, or more service time manipulation (which we have seen before in the MLB, i.e. Kris Bryant). A potential chance for Taylor to find his way to the big leagues is through a trade at the upcoming deadline. If the Padres, a contender, want to upgrade their major league team, maybe they send away Kohlwey in return.
As for Boushley (pronounced Boz-Lee), he is the Milwaukee Brewers system and is with their AAA Nashville Sounds. Caleb has had more of an up-and-down time in the minors, but this season he is on the up as he has an 8-2 record with a 2.97 ERA. Maybe more telling, is that his WHIP is 1.12 and hitters are batting just .219 against him. And while those numbers are good, his numbers in the month of June are even better. Boushley is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA this month giving up four runs in those four starts. Hitters are hitting under .200 against him in June. He can improve those numbers as he should get one more start before the month is over.
Just like Kohlwey, Boushley is blocked by the talent already at the major league level. The Brewers already have a tough time squeezing in starts for their top guys when all healthy.
Neither Kohlwey or Boushley are on their respective teams 40 man rosters, so until they are added to that group they cannot be called up.
It is not because of performance that these two have not made their debuts, but if they keep playing they way are, the organizations will not be able to ignore them any longer.
Taylor Kohlwey holds the career records for runs scored, hits, RBI, batting average, doubles, and slugging percentage. He holds the season records for runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, and slugging percentage.
He is 3rd all-time in home runs, holds the 2nd and 3rd best batting averages in a single season, 2nd in career triples, and also had the 2nd most doubles in a season. Additionally, he is one of three players in UW-L history to hit for the cycle.
Caleb Boushley holds the career records for innings pitched and wins. He holds the season records in innings pitched (also has the 2nd most), wins (also has the 2nd most), and most shutouts.
He has the 3rd most career strikeouts, he is 2nd in career shutouts, and 2nd in career ERA. He also has the second most strikeouts in a season in UW-L history.