PROVO, Utah — Former BYU teammates Daniel Schneemann and Justin Sterner were named to Major League Baseball active rosters to open the 2025 season.
Schneemann, who played shortstop for the Cougars for three seasons from 2016-18, is in his second year with the Cleveland Guardians after making his MLB debut in June 2024. Sterner, a pitcher who will make his debut with the Athletics in 2025, is also in his second year in the show, having spent part of the 2024 MLB season with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Schneemann appeared in 73 games for Cleveland during the 2024 season, hitting .218 with 17 extra base hits and 22 RBI. He made history when he played six defensive positions for the Guardians in his first six games, becoming the first MLB player to achieve this feat since 1906.
Schneemann joined the Guardians after five seasons and 445 games with five different teams in Cleveland's farm clubs. During his rise through the minor leagues, he collected 379 hits, 40 home runs, 211 RBI, scored 235 runs and swiped 58 bases.
In three seasons at BYU from 2016-18 Schneemann appeared in 140 games, hitting .291 with 31 extra base hits and 76 RBI, while earning 2017 WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors for his play at shortstop. Following his junior season, the Chula Vista, California native was selected by Cleveland in the 33rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft and became the seventh former Cougar to play in the Cleveland organization.
Sterner joined the Rays in 2024 after three seasons in the minor leagues. The right-hander made his MLB debut on May 31, pitching two scoreless innings versus the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. During three stints with the Rays in 2024, Sterner appeared in four games with four strikeouts and recorded a 2.25 ERA. Sterner joined the Athletics organization during the off-season and made 10 appearances for the A’s during 2025 spring training where he recorded 17 strikeouts, while allowing no runs in 12 innings.
Sterner signed as a free agent with the Miami Marlins in August 2020 and went on to record three saves and a 1.38 ERA in his first seven minor league appearances in 2021. He was later acquired by the Rays in a July trade and began to climb through Tampa Bay farm system. His three-and-a-half seasons in the minors includes a 4.14 ERA, 247 strikeouts, 14 saves and a 17-9 record in 119 appearances.
Following a two-year, full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Samoa, Sterner starred for the Cougars from 2018-20. His BYU career included 27 appearances and 17 starts with an 8-3 record. The Laguna Niguel, California native recorded a career 2.86 ERA with 103 strikeouts in 100.2 innings at BYU.
Since Jerry Nyman made his MLB debut for the Chicago White Sox in 1963, 27 former Cougars have gone on to play in the show, including Jack Morris who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.