AppleSox Alum Halbach Selected In MLB Draft

Former Wenatchee AppleSox player Matt Halbach was selected by the Chicago Cubs on Monday in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Halbach played for the AppleSox in 2022 and earned All-WCL Honorable Mention after hitting .329 with 17 multi-hit games. He showcased his versatility by playing first base, third base, left field and right field. The then-incoming sophomore at UC San Diego regularly batted either second or third in the AppleSox batting order and never went back-to-back games without collecting a base hit until his final two games of the regular season.

‘Matt The Bat,’ as he was known to be called by cheering AppleSox fans, recorded a personal-best eight-game hitting streak July 3-15 and batted .371 during it. Two of his most exciting moments of the season came during that streak when he hit a go-ahead and eventual game-winning home run in the fifth inning against Kelowna July 5 and then hit a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth against Corvallis July 15. Halbach helped the AppleSox walk off the Knights on July 16 when he reached on an error in the ninth for Wenatchee’s only walkoff victory of 2022.

The San Jose native went on to play for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod League last summer and hit .364 in 32 games to earn a spot on All-League team and an All-Star berth. Halbach helped Orleans reach the Cape Code League Championship by recording eight extra-base hits and 15 RBI.

Halbach’s success in the Cape Cod League is even more impressive after climbing from the Expedition League in 2021 to the WCL in 2022 before the last jump to the highest level of summer collegiate baseball. He hit .333 in 28 games with the Hastings Sodbusters.

In three seasons at the University of California San Diego, Halbach has batted .311 over 121 games in three seasons. He was limited due to injury in 2024 but ranked 87th overall in D1Baseball's midseason Top-100 MLB Draft prospect rankings and was named to the Big West Preseason Coaches Team. Last year Halbach hit .306 (third-best on the Tritons) while recording 15 doubles, five home runs and leading the conference with five triples to earn All-Big West First Team honors. As a freshman he recorded a team-best three triples and ranked fifth on the Tritons with a .270 batting average, fourth in slugging percentage (.432) and fifth with 29 runs scored.

Halbach becomes the second player coached by AppleSox skipper Mitch Darlington to be selected in the MLB Draft, joining Aiva Arquette, who was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022. Rounds 11-20 take place Tuesday at 11 a.m. PST and can be seen on MLB.com.