The Saltdogs have signed RHP Nick Tepesch and OF Noah Cummings, the club has announced.
Tepesch, 30, joins the ‘Dogs for his first season of independent baseball after spending each of the last eight in affiliated baseball and four of the last six seasons in Major League Baseball.
A Missouri native and former Mizzou Tiger, Tepesch has a 10-20 record with a 4.71 ERA in 47 career big-league games – 44 of those starts.
Tepesch was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Missouri, and has been a part of the Rangers, Tigers, Royals, Dodgers, Twins, Blue Jays and A’s systems in his eight years of professional baseball.
Tepesch’s longest stint in the big leagues came in 2014, when he made 23 appearances and 22 starts with the Rangers, compiling a 5-11 record and a 4.36 ERA. In the entirety of his professional career, the right-hander is 48-48 with a 4.34 ERA in 173 appearances and 149 starts. He also has 601 strikeouts with 242 walks in 863.2 innings.
Also joining Tepesch and the ‘Dogs is rookie OF Noah Cummings, a four-year starter at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK.
Cummings, a native of California, will begin his pro career after becoming one of the most decorated players in ORU history.
During his four seasons, Cummings finished among the program’s all-time leaders with 218 GP (9th), 280 H (4th), 200 RBI (1st), 51 2B (7th), 839 AB (2nd), 35 HR (8th), and 140 SO (4th). He finished his career with a .334/.397/.529 slugging percentage in those 218 games played, and slugged 24 combined homers over his final two seasons.
Cummings was named an All-American in 2017, and during his four years ORU compiled a 160-73 record – making the NCAA tournament all four times.