A second-round draft pick in 2007, Freddie Freeman was always a highly touted prospect. His introduction to pro ball, however, was a rough one. The Braves newest 100-million dollar man hit just .268 and posted a .674 OPS in rookie ball in 2007.

That was the last time Freeman had any issues hitting professional pitching. Freeman was a mid-season and postseason South Atlantic All-Star in 2008 with Low-A Rome. He went on to crush Carolina League pitching in 2009 with the Pelicans.He led Myrtle Beach in batting average (.302) and clubbed 19 doubles and six home runs in just half a season before a promotion to Double-A.

On September 1, 2010, Freeman was a big leaguer at just 20 years old. He finished second in the 2011 National League Rookie of the Year voting.

In 2013, Freeman transformed from a good player to a great one. Earning his first National League All-Star selection, Freeman finished fifth in the NL MVP voting while setting career highs in batting average (.319) and RBIs (109). Freeman would make his next All-Star appearance in 2018 where he hit .309/.388/.505 on the year and led the National League in games played (162), hit (191) and doubles (44).

It was a fast rise through the Minor Leagues for outfielder Jason Heyward, reaching the Atlanta Braves before his 21st birthday. However, the Georgia prep star did spend parts of two seasons in Myrtle Beach.

Heyward was promoted to the Pelicans on August 25, 2008, where he appeared in seven games at the end of the season. He returned to Myrtle Beach in 2009 where he smacked 10 home runs in 49 games, earning a promotion to Double-A Mississippi before debuting with Atlanta in 2010.

Heyward quickly earned his spot in right field, playing in 681 games over five seasons. He posted a .781 OPS and won over fans with his spectacular defense and hometown charm.

In an effort to rebuild the farm system, Atlanta traded Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins on November 17, 2014.

The change of scenery proved to be no issue for Heyward, who put together an outstanding season with the 2015 Cardinals, earning his third Gold Glove Award and leading St. Louis to a 100-win season and their third straight division title.

Following the season, the 26-year-old signed an 8-year, $184 million contract with the Chicago Cubs, the largest position-player contract of the 2015-16 offseason and 14th-largest in baseball history at the time. Heyward’s move to Chicago brings his Pelicans connection full circle, as he re-entered the team’s parent organization.

In the very first season of an eight-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, Heyward helped the North Siders win their first World Series since 1908. The Georgia native delivered an infamous speech with the score tied in Game 7’s rain delay that helped the Cubs regain their focus before coming out and winning the title in the 10th inning.

Across four minor league seasons, Kyle Hendricks pitched his way into the big leagues in 2014. Not overpowering and often overlooked, Hendricks was considered the secondary piece in a trade that sent Ryan Dempster to the Texas Rangers in 2012, yet he has out-performed fellow trade-mate, third baseman Christian Villanueva (who also played for the Pelicans in 2012).

Hendricks posted a 2.69 ERA in the Minor LEagues, including a 3.28 mark at Triple-A Iowa before getting promoted to Chicago. That was the beginning of a stellar second half in the majors. Hendricks went 7-2 with a 2.46 ERA across 13 starts while walking just 13 in 80.1 innings. The Dartmouth alum was the National League Rookie of the Month in August and finished seventh in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

The California native followed up his loud rookie season with a strong campaign as the newest member of the Cubs’ full-time rotation in 2015. Hendricks went 8-7 with a 3.95 ERA over 32 starts, helping the Cubs reach the National League Championship Series by defeating the Cardinals in Game 2 of the NLDS.

He would one-up himself the following year. Hendricks led all of baseball with a sparkling 2.13 ERA while posting a 16-8 record and allowing 142 hits in 190.0 innings. The right-hander finished third in the NL Cy Young voting and helped the Cubs win their first World Series in 108 year, starting the decisive Game 7.

Hendricks’ success should come as no surprise to Pelicans fans. The Californian dominated Carolina League teams in 2012. Before departing in the trade, he logged 130.2 innings in Myrtle Beach with nearly a 10-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio, hurled two complete games and tossed a shutout frame in the 2012 California/Carolina League All-Star Game in Winston-Salem. His 2.82 ERA from that season is good for 10th on the franchise’s career record list.

The Texas Rangers first-round pick (39th overall) in 2012, Gallo quickly rose through the Rangers farm system putting up monstrous home run totals in the process before making his debut with the big club in 2015.

Gallo’s 2014 stint in Myrtle Beach was a short one but it was impactful. The Las Vegas native blistered 21 homers in just 58 games with the Pelicans while hitting .323/.463/.735. He was named the Carolina League Most Valuable Player despite only spending half the season in the Grand Strand. Gallo was promoted to Double-A Frisco midway through the year and the power continued. Gallo blasted 21 more homers for the RoughRiders bringing his season total to 42 which was second to Kris Bryant (43) in all of Minor League Baseball.

Gallo made his major league debut on June 2, 2015 for the Rangers and continued what he had done in the minors by going deep in his first two major league starts. After spending most of the 2016 season in Triple-A, Gallo has been an everyday player for the Rangers over the last two seasons and his finished top-five in the league in homeruns both years hitting 41 in 2017 and 40 in 2018.

Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2013 by the Chicago Cubs, Gleyber Torres immediately became on of the Cubs top prospects. At just 17 years old, Torres made his debut for the Arizona Cubs in 2014 and hit .279/.372/.377 and was promoted to Boise for the final seven games of the year and went 11 for 28 with an OPS of 1,255.

Torres broke camp in 2015 with the South Bend Cubs and dominated the league hitting .293/.353/.386 and was named to the Midwest League All-Star Team and was named the League’s Prospect of the Year. He was promoted to Myrtle Beach on September 2, 2015 and finished the year with the Birds helping them to the 2015 Carolina League title.

Torres opened 2016 as the Chicago Cubs No. 1 overall prospect, according to Baseball America, and he did not disappoint. The 19-year-old hit .275 with nine homers and 47 RBI in 94 games for the Pelicans before being traded to the Yankees in a deal that brought Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs.

On April 22, 2018, Torres made his major league debut with the Yankees and went on to have an outstanding rookie campaign. He hit .271/.340/.480 with 24 homers and 77 RBIs. He was named an American League All-Star as the third youngest player in the league and went on to finish third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

David Bote etched his name into Chicago Cubs history with his pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam on August 12th, 2018 but before skyrocketing to stardom on the mainstage, Bote made waves in the Carolina League with the Pelicans.

Originally the Chicago Cubs 18th round selection in the 2012 draft, Bote toiled his way through the Cubs system before breaking out with the Pelicans during the 2016 season. Bote became an instant fan favorite as he smashed Carolina League pitching to the tune of a .337/.410/.518 slash with six homers and 41 RBI.

After two more seasons of bouncing around the Cubs’ system, Bote made his major league debut on April 21, 2018 in a start against the Colorado Rockies. He finished his first year in the majors hitting .239/.319/.408 while hitting six homers and driving in 33 runs.

The Chicago Cubs’ first-round pick (ninth overall) in 2015, Happ maneuvered quickly through the organization to reach the major leagues in 2017. The former Cincinnati Bearcat made his presence felt immediately by launching a home run in his big league debut on May 13, 2017 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Happ finished eighth in the rookie of the year voting in 2017 after batting .253/.328/.514 with 24 homers and 68 RBIs in 115 games. He followed that up in 2018 by hitting .233/.353/.408 with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs in 142 games, all while being the youngest position player on the Cubs’ roster.

The Pittsburgh native starred for Myrtle Beach in 2016, slashing .296/.410/.475 with 16 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 43 RBIs in 69 games before forcing a promotion to Double-A Tennessee. At the time of his promotion, Happ was leading the entire Class A-Advanced level with 48 walks while ranking third in on-base percentage (.410) and routh in both average (.296) and OPS (.885) In June of 2016, Happ posted a .361/.461/.607 line in 19 games.