Ryan Adam Merritt (born February 21, 1992) is an American former

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

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) for 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 ...

in 2016 and 2017.

Career

Merritt was raised in

Celina, Texas Celina ( ) is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Celina is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and is nestled between the major arteries of Texas State Highway 289 (Preston Road) to the east and the future Dal ...

, and is a graduate of Celina High School, where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in baseball and football. He then attended

McLennan Community College McLennan Community College (MCC) is a public community college in McLennan County, Texas. Located in Waco, Texas, it opened in 1965. MCC now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a Board of Trustees ele ...

Cleveland Indians

The

selected Merritt in the 16th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. Merritt spent the next five seasons in the Indians' farm system. In 2014, he had a 13–3 win–loss record and a 2.58

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) for the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...

, and followed that up with 12 wins in 2015 between the Columbus Clippers and the

Akron Aeros The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...

, the Indians' AAA and AA affiliates. The Indians added him to their 40-man roster on November 20, 2014. Merritt started Game 5 of the 2016 American League Championship Series, just his second major league start; he pitched shutout innings against Toronto, giving up two hits and striking out three. Merritt is one of only two pitchers in MLB history to have started just one game in the regular season before pitching in the postseason, the other being Matt Moore. On July 13, 2018, Merritt was designated for assignment. After clearing waivers, Merritt was outrighted to the minor leagues on July 21. He elected free agency on November 3, 2018.

Tampa Bay Rays

On November 14, 2018, Merritt signed a minor league deal with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. He spent the 2019 season with the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

, the Rays' AAA affiliate, and had a 7.04 ERA in 27 games. Merritt became a free agent following the 2019 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Ryan 1992 births Living people People from McKinney, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players McLennan Highlanders baseball players Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Carolina Mudcats players Akron RubberDucks players Columbus Clippers players Durham Bulls players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic