By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 23, 2026)

Amidst the exciting backdrop of Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon’s 2023 declaration regarding his desire and efforts to bring a Major League Baseball expansion franchise to Raleigh, sports fans in the Bold North State can spend the rest of October enjoying a bunch of Atlantic Coast Conference and North Carolina products competing in the 2026 World Series.

When the seven-game set between the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays and the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers begins Friday (8 p.m., FOX), six products of ACC programs and one from in-state Campbell will be among those on the active rosters.

The complete list of ACC/NC participants in the 2026 MLB playoffs is below. It includes more than 30 players, representing 14 ACC schools and eight in-state programs (Campbell, Duke, East Carolina, Gardner-Webb, NC State, UNC, UNC Wilmington and Wake Forest), although most of those participants competed for MLB teams that since have been eliminated from the postseason.

While World Series viewership gradually has declined since its peak in 1978 (42 million per game), the television-plus-streaming annual average for the World Series over the past two decades have remained mostly in the 12-23 million per game range, a threshold exceeded by only the biggest National Football League games, the highest-profile NCAA football contests and a handful of other major sporting events.

Tampa Bay’s postseason lineup includes four players with ACC or NC backgrounds and relies heavily on three of them.

Chandler Simpson (Georgia Tech) is the Rays’ starting left fielder, Taylor Walls (Florida State) is their every-day shortstop, and Ian Seymour (Virginia Tech) is one of their most frequently used relief pitchers. Former Louisburg College and Campbell star Cedric Mullins mostly comes off the bench as a center fielder.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee has had three products of ACC programs on its postseason roster, and each competes in a supporting role.

Shane Drohan (Florida State), a versatile piece on the Brewers’ pitching staff, usually comes out of the bullpen. Sal Frelick (Boston College) and Andrew Vaughn (Cal) are part-time starters in right field and at designated hitter, respectively.

Please see below for the entire postseason list.

2026 MLB Playoff Participants
(ACC and NC-Based Programs)

Boston College

Sal Frelick, RF, Milwaukee Brewers
x-Emmet Sheehan, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Cal

Andrew Vaughn, DH, Milwaukee Brewers

Clemson

x-Justin Wrobleski^, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Duke

x-Joey Loperfido, OF, Houston Astros

Florida State

Shane Drohan, RP, Milwaukee Brewers
x-Parker Messick, SP, Cleveland Guardians
x-Cam Smith, RF, Houston Astros
Taylor Walls, SS, Tampa Bay Rays

Georgia Tech

Chandler Simpson^, LF, Tampa Bay Rays

Louisville

x-Will Smith, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

Miami

x-Slade Cecconi, RP, Cleveland Guardians
x-Alex McFarlane, RP, Philadelphia Phillies
x-Victor Mederos^, RP, Atlanta Braves

NC State

x-Patrick Bailey*, C, Cleveland Guardians
x-Carlos Rodon*, SP, New York Yankees
x-Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia Phillies

North Carolina

x-Michael Busch, 1B, Chicago Cubs

Stanford

x-Kris Bubic, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers
x-Tommy Edman, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers
x-Nico Hoerner, 2B, Chicago Cubs
x-Erik Miller, RP, Boston Red Sox
x-Braden Montgomery^, RF, Chicago White Sox

Virginia

x-Bennett Sousa, RP, Houston Astros
x-Kyle Teel, C, Chicago White Sox

Virginia Tech

Ian Seymour, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

Wake Forest

x-Gavin Sheets, DH, San Diego Padres

Other NC-Based Programs

Campbell

Cedric Mullins, CF, Tampa Bay Rays

East Carolina

x-Shawn Armstrong*, SP, Cleveland Guardians
x-Gavin Williams*, SP, Cleveland Guardians

Gardner-Webb

x-Mason Miller^, RP, San Diego Padres

UNC Wilmington

x-Evan Phillips*, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers

^—played for multiple NCAA programs
x-team now eliminated from 2026 MLB playoffs
*-also listed below (both high school and college in NC)

NOTE: North Carolina’s other D1 baseball programs are at Appalachian State, Charlotte, Davidson, Elon, High Point, North Carolina A&T, Queens, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.

2026 MLB Playoff Participants
(North Carolina High Schools)

x-Shawn Armstrong, SP, Cleveland Guardians (West Craven HS, Vanceboro)
x-Patrick Bailey, C, Cleveland Guardians (Wesleyan Christian Academy, High Point)
x-Evan Phillips, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton HS, Clayton)
x-Carlos Rodon, SP, New York Yankees (Holly Springs HS, Holly Springs)
x-Gavin Williams, SP, Cleveland Guardians (Cape Fear HS, Fayetteville)