Anthony Benjamin Kay (born March 21, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. Kay was drafted by the Mets in the first round, with the 31st overall selection, of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

Career

Amateur

Kay attended

Ward Melville High School Ward Melville High School is a public high school in the Three Village Central School District of Suffolk County, New York on Long Island, serving grades ten through twelve. It is fed by the two junior high schools in the district: Paul J. ...

East Setauket, New York East Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, in Suffolk County, on Long Island, New York, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 10,998. Be ...

. He was drafted by the

in the 29th round of the

2013 Major League Baseball Draft The 2013 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in reverse order of ...

, but did not sign. He attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

. As a freshman at Connecticut in 2014, Kay appeared in 18 games and made eight starts. He went 5–4 with a 3.49

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 56 strikeouts. As a sophomore, he started 14 out of 17 games and was 8–6 with a 2.07 ERA with 96 strikeouts. As a junior, he started 17 games, going 9–2 with a 2.65 ERA and 111 strikeouts. In 2014 and 2015, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

New York Mets

The New York Mets selected Kay in the first round of the

2016 Major League Baseball Draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

(31st overall) using the compensatory pick they received after the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

signed Daniel Murphy. Kay did not appear in any games in the Mets' organization after being drafted and then underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

on October 4, 2016, putting him out for the entire 2017 season. He returned in 2018 to play for the

Columbia Fireflies The Columbia Fireflies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Their home stadium is Segra Park. The team was previously known as the ...

and the

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

, combining to go 7–11 with a 4.26 ERA in innings. In 2019, he opened the season with the

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

, before being promoted to the

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which ope ...

on June 14. Kay was named to the 2019

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 28, 2019, the Mets traded Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson to the Blue Jays for

Marcus Stroman Marcus Earl Stroman (born May 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs. Stroman's hei ...

and cash considerations. Kay was added to the major league roster on September 7 to start against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. With the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays, Kay appeared in 13 games, compiling a 2-0 record with 5.14 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. In 2021, Kay made 11 appearances for the Blue Jays, recording a 5.61 ERA with 39 strikeouts across innings of work. Kay dealt with an unspecified injury for most of 2022 and only made one appearance for the big-league club, in which he allowed one run in two innings of work. On December 16, 2022, Kay was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

following the signing of

Chris Bassitt Christopher Michael Bassitt (born February 22, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2014 and has also played for the Oakl ...

Chicago Cubs

On December 23, 2022, Kay was claimed off waivers by the

. The Cubs designated him for assignment on January 20, 2023, after the signing of Trey Mancini was made official. On January 24, Kay cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

. In 23 appearances for Iowa, he registered a 4.50 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 28.0 innings of work. On June 13, Kay had his contract selected to the major league roster. In 13 appearances for Chicago, he posted a 6.35 ERA with 8 strikeouts in innings pitched. On September 11, Kay was

following the promotion of Pete Crow-Armstrong.

New York Mets (second stint)

On September 14, 2023, Kay was claimed off waivers by the

. He spent most of his stint with the Triple–A

; in four appearances for New York, he struggled to a 7.36 ERA with three strikeouts in innings of work. Following the season on October 20, Kay was removed from the 40–man roster and placed on outright waivers. On October 24, 2023, Kay was claimed off waivers by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. On November 6, Kay was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to the Triple–A

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada, a comm ...

. He elected free agency the same day.

Yokohama DeNA BayStars

On January 9, 2024, Kay signed with the

References

External links

Connecticut Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Anthony 1995 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Suffolk County, New York Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Columbia Fireflies players Florida Complex League Blue Jays players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players People from Stony Brook, New York Sportspeople from Brookhaven, New York St. Lucie Mets players Syracuse Mets players Toronto Blue Jays players UConn Huskies baseball players Ward Melville High School alumni Wareham Gatemen players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Yokohama DeNA BayStars players