Former El Paso high school star Samy Natera Jr. makes MLB debut

Samy Natera Jr. has completed his journey to Major League Baseball.

>The Juárez native, who played high school at El Paso's Lydia Patterson Institute and college at New Mexico State, was called up by the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, June 6.

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>The left-handed relief pitcher made his MLB debut with the team later that night, coming in for the fourth and fifth innings and threw two scoreless, hitless innings with three strikeouts and a walk.

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>That followed a dominant start to the 2026 season for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, where he was 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 20 appearances. Natera Jr. led all Pacific Coast League relievers with 44 strikeouts at the time of his callup.

>Natera Jr. was drafted in the 17th round of the 2022 draft out of New Mexico State by the Angels, then made his professional debut in 2023 in Class A after recovering from an injury.

>He was LPI's 2020 athlete of the year and the team MVP for both baseball and basketball.

>Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

>This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Lydia Patterson, NMSU grad Samy Natera Jr. makes MLB debut