Former Ball State University baseball player Bryan Bullington will likely be making his first major league start either today or Thursday.
Bullington, the former No. 1 overall draft pick was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates following the end of the Indianapolis Indians' season Monday and drove to St. Louis where he dressed for Tuesday's game.
He is expected to start either today or Thursday for the Pirates, which will be his second career appearance in the majors.
Bullington spent the 2007 season with the Indians, and went 11-9 and a 4.00 ERA.
Bullington pitched 1.1 innings in relief during 2005 before being sidelined through the 2006 season due to injury.
Bullington, who played at Ball State from 2000 to 2002 and set the school records for strike outs and wins, was selected with the overall No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft. He was the first player from the Mid-American Conference to be taken with the first overall pick in any sport.
Bullington joined Brad Snyder, who was called up by the Cleveland Indians from Buffalo on Friday, as former Ball State players called up to the majors.
Snyder, who played at Ball State from 2001 to 2003, was also called up last year. The move, however, was only for face. Snyder has a broken thumb and will be out for the rest of the season.
Snyder's place on the DL, as part of the playoff roster that the Indians send to the Major League Baseball office, can be replaced by a healthy player from the minors should Cleveland make the playoffs.