Cole Sulser

Cole Young Sulser (born March 12, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.

Cole Sulser
Sulser with the Columbus Clippers in 2018
Baltimore Orioles – No. 54
Pitcher
Born: (1990-03-12) March 12, 1990
Santa Ysabel, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 2019, for the Tampa Bay Rays
MLB statistics
(through August 12, 2020)
Win–loss record1–1
Earned run average2.76
Strikeouts18
Teams

Amateur career

Sulser graduated from Ramona High School in Ramona, California, in 2008, where he played baseball all four years.[1] Undrafted out of high school, he attended Dartmouth College. He earned two bachelor's degrees at Dartmouth: in engineering sciences with public policy and mechanical engineering.[2]

Sulser played college baseball for the Dartmouth Big Green. As a sophomore, Sulser set a Big Green record posting an 8–0 win–loss record, a Big Green single-season record for wins, and led the Ivy League in strikeouts. He was named to the All-Ivy League team in 2011, his junior year, but injured an elbow ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery. Though he missed his entire senior year, his teammates chose him as their captain. Sulser was granted a redshirt for the 2012 season, a rarity in the Ivy League, and he pitched for Dartmouth in 2013, again being named co-captain and making the All-Ivy League team.[3] His 20 wins over his career were the second-most in Dartmouth history.[2]

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians selected Sulser in the 25th round of the 2013 MLB draft.[3] Sulser played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League in 2013, going 3–2 with a 1.83 earned run average (ERA) in 54 innings pitched.[4] He split the 2014 season between the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and the Akron RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League, going a combined 4–14 with a 5.43 ERA over 136 innings.[5] Sulser had his second Tommy John surgery in 2015, and missed the entire season.[2][6]

Sulser split the 2016 season between the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League, Akron, and the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League, going a combined 2–5 with a 4.34 ERA in 63 innings.[7] Sulser split the 2017 season between Akron and Columbus, going 3–1 with a 2.70 ERA in 63 innings.[8] In winter baseball after the season, Sulser played for the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Winter League.[8] In 2018, he again split the season between Akron and Columbus, going 8–4 with a 3.86 ERA in ​60 2⁄3 innings with 95 strikeouts.[9]

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 13, 2018, Cleveland traded Sulser to the Tampa Bay Rays in a three–team trade in which the Rays also acquired Yandy Díaz for Jake Bauers, and the Seattle Mariners acquired Edwin Encarnación from the Indians for Carlos Santana.[10] Sulser spent the 2019 minor league season with the Durham Bulls of the International League, going 6–3 with a 3.27 ERA in 66 innings with 89 strikeouts.[11]

The Rays selected Sulser's contract and promoted him to the major leagues on September 2, 2019.[6] He made his major league debut with Tampa Bay on September 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays.[12][13] He was designated for assignment when the Rays activated Yandy Díaz from the 60-day injured list on September 29.[14]

Baltimore Orioles

Sulser was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles two days later on October 1, replacing Chandler Shepherd who had been outrighted the previous day.[15]

Personal life

Sulser grew up in Santa Ysabel, California located in the San Diego mountains. However he attended elementary, middle and high school in Ramona, California where his mother was a teacher. Sulser started playing baseball at age four and played Ramona Pony Baseball until age 14. He also played on several local travel teams. He attended Ramona High School where he played baseball, was ASB President and served as a peer mentor. His father worked as a general building contractor as well as helped coach many of Sulser's youth teams.[2]

His younger brother, Beau, also plays professional baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, after a college career at Dartmouth. Sulser's younger sister, Tiffany, serves in the United States Coast Guard.[1] His girlfriend, Dana Langshaw, is a model/actress, whom he met while playing in the Indians organization with the Akron Rubberducks.

References
  1. Gallant, Julie (February 20, 2019). "Brothers follow their dreams pitching for pro baseball teams". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  2. "A 29-year-old Rays rookie engineers his own baseball love story". Tampa Bay Times. September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. Brainard, Karen. "Major leagues draft 2008 Ramona High grad Cole Sulser". Ramona Sentinel. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  4. Fox Sports (October 3, 2013). "Minor League Notebook: Mahoning Valley Scrappers in review". FoxSports.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  5. Tim Warsinskey (April 25, 2014). "Carolina Mudcats pitching starts off strong". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  6. Ryan Kolakowski (September 1, 2019). "Rays recall five, add Cole Sulser to taxi squad". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  7. Mark D. Robertson (May 1, 2016). "Pitching smarter: Ivy Leaguers anchoring Hillcats bullpen". The News & Advance. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  8. Cleveland Indians (January 4, 2018). "Cleveland Indians invite seven minor-leaguers to big-league Spring camp". tribevibe.mlblogs.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  9. "RubberDucks report: A step back could be a step forward for reliever Cole Sulser". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  10. Tampa Bay Rays (December 13, 2018). "Rays land Yandy Diaz, RHP Cole Sulser from Indians, send Jake Bauers to Cleveland as part of 3-team trade". Fox Sports Florida. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  11. The Associated Press (August 24, 2019). "Sulser, Pinto and Milner shut out Gwinnett, Durham wins 3–0". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  12. Mark Didtler (September 7, 2019). "Rays pitchers combine on 2-hitter in 5–0 win over Blue Jays". WFTV Channel 9. Associated Press.
  13. Jeff Maffei (September 25, 2019). "After two elbow surgeries, two degrees at Dartmouth, Ramona grad makes MLB debut". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  14. Anthony Franco (September 27, 2019). "Rays Designate Cole Sulser". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  15. Kubatko, Roch. "Orioles claim Cole Sulser off waivers," Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Tuesday, October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019
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