Geneva Alum Tanner Murray Makes MLB Debut for White Sox

Former Geneva Red Wings infielder Tanner Murray made his Major League debut on Sunday for the Chicago White Sox as they played host to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Murray played for the Geneva Red Wings in 2018 as a freshman at UC Davis. Including playoffs, he appeared in 26 games for the Red Wings and hit .301 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI. The Red Wings finished second in the West Division that year and defeated the Elmira Pioneers before falling two games to one in the semifinals to the eventual PGCBL Champions, the Jamestown Jammers.

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Tanner Murray in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Rising through the Rays minor league system, Murray played all of 2025 in Triple-A with the Durham Bulls.

This past November, Murray was traded, along with CF Everson Pereira to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP Steven Wilson and RHP Yoendrys Gomez.

The White Sox assigned Murray to their Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, to start the season, and in the first six games with Charlotte he hit .304 with 2 home runs, a double and 7 RBI. He also drew 6 walks in those first six games and had a staggering .467 on-base percentage.

That hot start led to the April 5th call up by the White Sox where Murray was immediately injected into the lineup as the shortstop for Sunday's game. While going 0-for-2 at the plate, Murray made a tremendous play in a pivotal spot of the game. With the bases loaded, Addison Barger hit a grounder to the right of second base which appeared to be a 2-run single up the middle. Instead, Murray ranged all the way over from short to field the ball and with his momentum carrying him into right field, he made a spinning throw to first base to record the third out and kept the White Sox 1-0 lead intact. Chicago would go on to a 3-0 victory to earn the sweep over Toronto.

Tanner Murray becomes the first former Red Wings player to reach the Major Leagues since Geneva joined the PGCBL back in 2016. He's the second PGCBL alum to make his debut in 2026 as former Saugerties Stallion Matt Pushard made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on March 29th.