Players

INF Nick Shumpert joins the Explorers for a second season after hitting .267 and launching seven home runs with 29 RBI in 2024. Last season was a return to the American Association for Schumpert where he made previous stops at Cleburne in 2022 and Fargo-Moorhead in 2021 after spending 2023 with the Washington Nationals organization. The Colorado native would slash a line of .267/.340/.384 while showing versatility in the field. He would appear in 43 games at second, 39 at shortstop, two more at third base and another 10 stops in the outfield.

Schumpert would finish in the top five in several key statistical lists in 2024. He would finish fourth in games played at 87, fifth in runs scored 54, fourth in doubles 16, third in homers seven and second in stolen bases with 40. Schumpert finished 7-for-22 over his last six games with five stolen bases, including a 3-for-4 game in a 7-1 playoff win on September 6. The right-handed batter had two seven-game hitting streaks during the season from July 3 to July 13 and from August 14 to August 25.

In 2023 Schumpert would play 42 games for Wilmington in the South Atlantic League, hitting .168 with three home runs and seven RBI. Shumpert would steal six bases in seven attempts while playing seven games at shortstop, seven at second base and another six at third base. Shumpert would also play all three outfield positions while with Wilmington.

Shumpert would play 91 games for the Cleburne Railroaders in 2022, hitting eight homers while driving in 50 runs. He would slash a line of .265/.310/.421 while stealing 29 bases for Cleburne. His four triples were good for second on the club, and he would blast four grand slam home runs, setting a single season franchise record for Cleburne.

In 2021, Shumpert played in 16 games with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and 77 contests with Lancaster of the Atlantic League in 2021. He hit .216 with one home run and six RBI for the RedHawks and hit .204 in Lancaster with another dinger and 22 RBI. In 2020 he would appear in the All-American Baseball Challenge League for 22 games, hitting .315 with three home runs and 11 RBI.

In 2019 Shumpert played in 10 games for Sussex County in the Can-Am League, hitting .087 and another 30 with Trinidad in the Pecos League where he slashed a line of .377/.432/.598 with six home runs and 23 RBI. Shumpert also spent the 2018-2019 winter season playing for the Adelaide Bite in the Australian Baseball League.

Shumpert would spend parts of three seasons with the Atlanta Braves organization, reaching Triple-A with the Gwinnett Stripers in 2018. He would go 1-for-6 with a strikeout in 2 games at the end of the season at AAA but spend most of the season at rookie-level Danville. In 48 games he hit two home runs with 18 RBI in 48 games while hitting at a .248 clip. Shumpert would add 43 games to his resume at Danville in 2017, hitting .216 with 14 RBI and would hit .189 in 16 games at rookie-level Gulf Coast in 2016.

During his time with the Braves system, Shumpert hit .224/.272/.332 with 21 doubles, five triples, three home runs, 39 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 119 games of affiliated minor league baseball. On the base paths as a professional, the Colorado native has 118 stolen bases in 172 attempts. Atlanta would make him their 28th round selection in 2016 out of San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas.

Shumpert played high school ball at Highlands Ranch High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and was committed to the University of Kentucky until he was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. He would not sign with Detroit but rather chose to go to San Jacinto Junior College where the Braves would call his name the next season. Shumpert has a pair of pro baseball connections in his family. His father, Terry Shumpert, spent parts of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues and his cousin is current Major Leaguer Mookie Betts.