Nick Howard Sandlin (born January 10, 1997) 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

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 ...

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). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians.

Amateur career

Sandlin - a sidearm style pitcher - attended Greenbrier High School in

Evans, Georgia Evans is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Augusta and is part of the Augusta metropolitan area. The population was 29,011 at the 2010 census, up from 1 ...

. He enrolled at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

and played

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, ...

for the

Southern Miss Golden Eagles The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles (also known as Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles) are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), located in Hattiesburg, Miss ...

. In 2017, 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

Hyannis Harbor Hawks The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

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 ...

. In 2018, his junior year, Sandlin won the

C Spire Ferriss Trophy The C Spire Ferriss Trophy was created in the fall of 2003 by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame to honor the Mississippi Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year. The trophy bears the name and likeness of Dave Ferriss. The trophy is cosponsored b ...

, given to the best collegiate baseball player in Mississippi. and was named

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

's Baseball Pitcher of the Year and the National Pitcher of the Year Award from Perfect Game/Rawlings.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

The

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

selected Sandlin in the second round, with the 67th overall selection, of the

2018 MLB draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He signed with Cleveland, receiving a $750,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He spent the 2018 season with the rookie-level

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is ...

, Single-A

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...

, High-A

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinn ...

, and Double-A

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park (Akron, Ohio) ...

, compiling a combined 2–0 record and 3.00 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 24 total relief innings pitched between the four clubs. In 2019, Sandlin played for Akron and the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

. He went a combined 1–0 with a 2.39 ERA over innings. On July 1, it was announced that he would miss the rest of the season due to a right forearm strain. Sandlin did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On April 30, 2021, Sandlin was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On May 1, Sandlin made his MLB debut against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and struck out White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton for his first major league strikeout. He made 34 relief outings during his rookie campaign, posting a 2.94 ERA with 48 strikeouts across innings pitched. Sandlin pitched in 46 games out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

during the 2022 season, compiling a 5-2 record and 2.25 ERA with 41 strikeouts over 44 innings of work. In 2023, he made 61 appearances, logging a 5-5 record and 3.75 ERA with 66 strikeouts over 60 innings of work. Sandlin made 68 appearances for Cleveland in 2024, registering an 8-0 record and 3.75 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 1 save across innings pitched.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 10, 2024, Sandlin, alongside Andrés Giménez, was traded to the

in exchange for

Spencer Horwitz Spencer Elliott Horwitz (born November 14, 1997) is an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue ...

and Nick Mitchell.

Personal life

His older brother, Jake, also played baseball for Greenbrier and Southern Miss.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandlin, Nick Living people 1997 births People from Evans, Georgia Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Guardians players Toronto Blue Jays players Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players All-American college baseball players Arizona League Indians players Lake County Captains players Lynchburg Hillcats players Akron RubberDucks players Columbus Clippers players Florida Complex League Blue Jays players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players