Ryan Edward Flaherty (born July 27, 1986) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

coach and former infielder. He is an advance scout and development coach for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played in MLB for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, and 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. Flaherty was a utility player, having played every position except for center field and catcher.

Early life and high school career

He is the son of Edward and Deborah Flaherty. Edward was a star at the University of Maine and is now the head coach at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universit ...

, a division III school in

Gorham, Maine Gorham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,336 at the 2020 United States Census. In addition to its urban village center known as Gorham Village or simply "the Village," the town encompasses a number of ...

. He has been there for 32 years and the field at USM is named for him. As a kid, Ryan would accompany his father to Southern Maine practices, and field grounders. His younger brother, Regan was a draft pick of the Seattle Mariners. Flaherty graduated from

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the others being Portland High Scho ...

in 2005. In 2004, he led Nova Seafood to the American Legion World Series Championship, as well as winning the Telegram League batting title. He was a 2005

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

Preseason All-American, also winning

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

's Mr. Baseball award in honor of

John Winkin John W. Winkin Jr. (July 24, 1919 – July 19, 2014) was an American baseball coach, scout, broadcaster, journalist and collegiate athletics administrator. Winkin led the University of Maine Black Bears baseball team to six College World Series ...

. He was also named Maine Gatorade High School Player of the Year as a senior at Deering High School. Flaherty lettered in baseball,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, captained the football team and was a finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, which is given to Maine's best football player.

College career

Ranked the 141st-best professional prospect by '' Baseball America'', he chose to attend

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

's Division I alongside fellow future Major League players David Price and Pedro Alvarez; the latter became a teammate on the Baltimore Orioles in 2016. As a freshman, Flaherty was named an honorable mention Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. In sixty-two games, Flaherty had a .339

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 49 RBI, 19 doubles, two homers and an on-base percentage of .421, leading the team with 22 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI games. In 2006, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Hyannis Mets 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. As a sophomore, Flaherty had a .381 batting average with 57 RBI, 23 doubles, four homers and an on-base percentage of .438 in 67 games. He was named Second-team All-American selection by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and the

(ABCA). He was also selected to the ABCA All-South Region Team as well as Second-Team All-SEC.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs selected Flaherty in the first round (41st overall) of the

2008 MLB draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

. In four seasons in both A and AA, Flaherty played 322 games with a .279 batting average, on-base percentage of .347, slugging percentage of .455, 182 RBI, 38 homers and 79 doubles. He had his two best professional seasons in 2009 and 2010. While in the Cubs organization he was ranked as the 8th best prospect.

Baltimore Orioles

The

selected Flaherty from the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft on December 8, 2011. He made the Orioles' Opening Day roster. He scored his first run in the MLB on April 14 against the Blue Jays in Toronto. He had his first MLB RBI on April 26, 2012, when he drove in Chris Davis on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning off of Drew Hutchinson of 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) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. In that same game, he collected his first MLB hit on a bunt single in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Luis Perez. He hit his first MLB home run as part of three consecutive home runs off Colby Lewis of the Texas Rangers to start the first inning of the first game of a May 10, 2012, doubleheader at Camden Yards. Teammates J. J. Hardy and

Nick Markakis Nicholas William Markakis ( ) (born November 17, 1983) is a Greek-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves. Markakis was the Orioles ...

followed with home runs. On September 28, 2012, he hit his first career

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

off

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

pitcher

Aaron Cook Aaron Cook may refer to: *Aaron Cook (baseball) (born 1979), Major League Baseball pitcher * Aaron Cook (footballer) (born 1979), Welsh footballer * Aaron Cook (politician), Nauruan politician *Aaron Cook (taekwondo) Aaron Arthur Cook (born 2 ...

. On October 10, 2012, Flaherty hit a home run in Game 3 of the

2012 American League Division Series The 2012 American League Division Series were two best-of-five-game series to determine the participating teams in the 2012 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners and a fourth team—the winner of a one-game Wild Card ...

, becoming the first native of

to hit a home run in the MLB postseason. Flaherty had his first multi-home run game on June 23, 2013, against the Toronto Blue Jays. Flaherty became the seventh position player to make a pitching appearance in Orioles history in a 12–2 loss to the Houston Astros at

Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

on August 20, 2016. He had entered the game as a third baseman in the eighth inning. Throwing 19 pitches in the ninth, he surrendered two earned runs and three hits on a leadoff homer by Jason Castro and consecutive one-out doubles from

George Springer George Chelston Springer III (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Houston Astros from 2014 to 2020. The Astros selected Springer i ...

and Alex Bregman. Flaherty was contracted with the Orioles through the 2016 season. His base salary was $1.5 million. His role with the Orioles was primarily as a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

with occasional service in the outfield. Flaherty finished the 2016 season with a .217 batting average. Flaherty and the Orioles avoided arbitration when they agreed to a one-year, $1.8 million contract for the 2017 season.

Philadelphia Phillies

On February 9, 2018, Flaherty signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was released on March 22.

Atlanta Braves

On March 26, 2018, the

signed Flaherty to a one-year contract worth $750,000. He was designated for assignment on August 20, and outrighted on August 23. He was active on the Braves NLDS roster and appeared in games 3 and 4

Cleveland Indians

On February 7, 2019, Flaherty signed a minor league deal with the

. After being informed he would not make the opening day major league roster, Flaherty opted out of his contract on March 20, 2019. Flaherty re-signed on a minor-league deal on March 31 and the organization assigned him to their

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. On September 1, the Indians selected Flaherty's contract.

Coaching career

Following the 2019 season, on November 24, Flaherty became an advance scout and development coach for the

. On June 11, 2022, Flaherty was named the acting manager of the Padres after Bob Melvin was placed in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

protocols.https://padres.mlblogs.com/ryans-report-acting-manager-ryan-flaherty-discusses-first-win-tactics-rotation-changes-in-d452865b3669

Personal life

Flaherty married Ashley Dutko, the sister of

's wife Christina Dutko, in 2016.Crasnick, Jerry. "Nick Markakis, Ryan Flaherty more than just Braves teammates," ESPN.com, Tuesday, May 29, 2018.
Retrieved May 29, 2018

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaherty, Ryan 1986 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Maine Baseball players from Maine Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Boise Hawks players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Daytona Cubs players Deering High School alumni Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Gwinnett Stripers players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Iowa Cubs players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball second basemen Mesa Solar Sox players Norfolk Tides players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Peoria Chiefs players San Diego Padres coaches San Diego Padres scouts Sportspeople from Portland, Maine Tennessee Smokies players United States national baseball team players Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games