Ryan Patrick O'Rourke (born April 30, 1988) is a college baseball coach and former American professional baseball pitcher. He is the volunteer assistant and pitching coach at the College of the Holy Cross. He played college baseball at Merrimack College from 2007 to 2010. O'Rourke was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2015. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets.

Ryan O'Rourke
O'Rourke with the Minnesota Twins in 2015
Pitcher
Born: (1988-04-30) April 30, 1988 (age 35)
Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 7, 2015, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
May 4, 2019, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Win–loss record0–1
Earned run average4.84
Strikeouts49
Teams

Early life edit

O'Rourke was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended St. John's High School in Shrewsbury where he played on the baseball team. He graduated in 2006. His brother Colin was an All-American lacrosse player for St. John's and played lacrosse for Wagner College. After high school, he attended Merrimack College.[1] Where he broke all of the schools pitching records. During the summer of 2008 O'Rourke played for the Brockport Riverbats in the NYCBL. His 6-1 record helped lead the Riverbats to the league championship.

Career edit

Minnesota Twins edit

O'Rourke was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft out of Merrimack College.[2][3] O'Rourke was called up to the majors for the first time on July 7, 2015, and made his major league debut that day in a win over the Baltimore Orioles.[4] After numerous callups, he finished with a 6.14 ERA in 28 games, giving up 15 walks in 22 innings, for the Twins.[5]

He began the 2016 season in the minors. He finished 0-1 with a 3.96 ERA in 26 games for the Twins.[5] He is starting the 2017 season on the disabled list.[6]

He was outrighted to AAA on November 6, 2017. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Baltimore Orioles edit

On November 16, 2017, O'Rourke signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles. He elected free agency on November 3, 2018.

New York Mets edit

On November 15, 2018, O’Rourke signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets and was invited to spring training.[7] O’Rourke has his contract selected to the major leagues on May 1, 2019. On June 26, he was designated for assignment.[8]

Minnesota Twins (second stint) edit

On August 9, 2019, O’Rourke signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.[9] On June 8, 2020, O’Rourke officially announced his retirement on Twitter.

International career edit

In 2019, O'Rourke became a citizen of Ireland via his grandparents.[10] In July 2019, he pitched for the Irish national baseball team during the qualifiers for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.[11]

Coaching career edit

On February 20, 2020, O'Rourke retired and joined the coaching staff of Holy Cross as a volunteer assistant.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ Christopher Smith (August 9, 2014). "O'Rourke aspires to be first Merrimack player to make majors". www.eagletribune.com. The Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. ^ ‘A total culture shock’
  3. ^ "St. John's Ryan O'Rourke working way to majors". Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  4. ^ Sean d'Oliveira (July 6, 2015). "Twins option Aaron Thompson to Triple-A; recall Ryan O'Rourke". FANTASY NEWS. CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Ryan O'Rourke Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
  6. ^ Twins' Ryan O'Rourke: Will open season on DL - CBSSports.com
  7. ^ RotoWire Staff (November 15, 2018). "Mets' Ryan O'Rourke: Inks minor-league deal with Mets". CBSSports. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  8. ^ RotoWire Staff (June 26, 2019). "Mets' Ryan O'Rourke: Removed from 40-man roster". CBSSports. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  9. ^ Matt Eddy (November 7, 2019). "Minor League Free Agents 2019". Baseball America. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  10. ^ McEvoy, Dermot (3 May 2019). "NY Mets call up Irish citizen Ryan O'Rourke". IrishCentral.com. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  11. ^ Kramer, Lindsay (17 July 2019). "What Syracuse Mets reliever Ryan O'Rourke did after he was fired right before a game". Syracuse.com. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Drabinski named assistant coach, O'Rourke joins baseball staff as volunteer". www.goholycross.com. Holy Cross College. February 20, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.

External links edit