Midseason Update: What are Ugandan players doing at the season's midway mark?

We've reached the halfway point of the baseball season, which is as good a time as any to check in on how Ugandan players are doing, both in the minor leagues and in the MLB Draft League.

First, let's check in on David Matoma. He might be the best story in all of baseball that nobody is talking about. I constantly find myself going back to his Baseball Reference Page over and over to check in on his latest outing. In his stateside debut for the Pirates in the Florida Complex League he's pitched to the tune of a 0.89 ERA, 25 strikeouts and 3 saves over 20.1 innings. His fastball sits in the mid to upper 90s and he can reach triple digits. Still 18 years old, it seems like a promotion to A ball with the Bradenton Marauders is coming sooner rather than later. Don't be surprised if we see Matoma in an All-Star Futures Game at some point in the future.

The other Ugandan in affiliated ball is Ben Serunkuma. Across two leagues, Rookie and Single-A, he's posted a 6.06 ERA over 16.1 innings. The ERA is deceivingly high due to one blow up game where he gave up 6 earned runs in just an inning and a third, but other than that, he's been more than serviceable, only giving up 5 earned over 15 innings. In his lone Single-A appearance, he pitched a scoreless inning and a third. Serunkuma is one to watch as he could work his way back into A ball this season or the next.

Pivoting over to the MLB Draft League, we have Sempa Shawali Sherican and Dennis Kasumba, both playing for the Fredrick Keys. In brief appearances, both have come on slow

Shawali Sherican has pitched in 4.1 innings, with an ERA of 13.50. He's shown a bit of strikeout stuff, K'ing 3. However, he's also walked 10. The goal for him now is to get those walk numbers down over the rest of the Draft League season.

Kasumba is the veteran of the two, having played in the MLB Draft League last year. He's still searching for his first hit, but he's cut his strikeout rate down from 15 in 23 PAs in 2023 to 5 in 14 PAs in 2024. And perhaps the biggest win of everyone here, he was the recipient of Salvador Perez's catcher's gear from the All Star Game.

Keep an eye on these guys over the rest of the season, some of them might continue on the upswing, and others might just surprise us.