Former Rutgers Shortstop Makes Triumphant End-of-Season MLB Return

He has achieved his dream while continuing to work toward completing his degree in sport management from the Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences. He is taking classes online and hopes to graduate in December.

Rutgers coach Steve Owens offered praise for his former player that goes beyond Kuroda-Grauer's baseball ability.

Owens remembers telling Kuroda-Grauer he wouldn't be able to start in the first game of the season during his freshman year in 2022. Kuroda-Grauer took the news in stride in a way that stuck with his coach.

"He said, 'You're the coach and I'm the player, so whatever you say goes. I'll be ready when I get my chance,''' Owens recalled.

"He played a little bit that weekend, then I played him in a mid-week game and he got a couple of at-bats and boom, base hit, base hit,'' Ownes said. "He took the position when it was time to take it, never looked back and didn't come off the field again."

Kuroda-Grauer recalled his first season at Rutgers as a freshman who was part of a team that went 44-15 and reached the Big 10 Conference championship game.

"There were a lot of older guys to look up to," he said. "Those guys helped me excel, and I give a lot of credit to my hitting coach Mike Garza, coach Owens and the whole staff."

An infielder, Kuroda-Grauer has played second base, third and shortstop. As a utility player who prefers shortstop (like his idol Derek Jeter), he acknowledges that, "You gotta' be ready to go wherever."

That outlook has taken him around the minor league circuit. Before getting called up to Sacramento, he played for teams in Stockton, California; Las Vegas; Lansing, Michigan; Mesa, Arizona; and Midland, Texas in the minor league circuit.

Between seasons at Rutgers, he also played in the Cape Cod League, and New England Collegiate Baseball League.