Tyler Brock Pastornicky (born December 13, 1989) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

2008 Major League Baseball 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 ro ...

and made his

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 (A ...

debut with the

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 ...

in 2012.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Pastornicky was drafted by the

in the fifth round 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 ...

out of The Pendleton School. Pastornicky played 2008 with the

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays i ...

, hitting .263 in 50 games with 27 stolen bases in 32 attempts. He played 2009 mostly with Single-A

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...

, hitting .269 in 109 games with 51 stolen bases in 66 attempts. He played 15 games with High-A

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. Pastornicky started 2010 with Dunedin, hitting .258 with 24 stolen bases in 31 attempts. He was named to the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A followi ...

All-Star Game.

Atlanta Braves

On July 15, 2010, the Blue Jays traded Pastornicky along with Álex González and Tim Collins to the

for

Yunel Escobar Yunel Escobar Almenares (born November 2, 1982) is a Cuban-born American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Na ...

and

Jo-Jo Reyes Joseph Albert Reyes (born November 20, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He has also played in the KBO Leagu ...

. He finished 2010 with Double-A

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. In total, he hit .257 in 115 games with 35 stolen bases in 44 attempts. Pastornicky played for Phoenix where he went 15-54 in 15 games. Pastornicky played 2011 mostly with Mississippi, but also played 27 games for Triple-A Gwinnett. With Mississippi, he hit .299 in 90 games and stole 20 of 28. He was named to the

Southern League All-Star Game The Southern League All-Star Game was an annual baseball game sanctioned by Minor League Baseball between professional players from the teams of the Double-A Southern League. Each division, North and South, fielded a team composed of players in ...

. Pastornicky was called up to the majors for the first time on September 28, 2011. Pastornicky made his major league debut on April 5, 2012, as the Opening Day shortstop for the Braves against the New York Mets in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Pastornicky recorded his first hit that day, a triple off of Ramón Ramírez that went over the head of center fielder Andrés Torres. His first home run came on April 10, 2012 against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

Minute Maid Park Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...

. He was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett after having the lowest fielding percentage among all major league shortstops. He was replaced by

Andrelton Simmons Andrelton A. Simmons (born September 4, 1989) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago Cubs. D ...

who was called up from Double-A Mississippi on June 2, 2012. Pastornicky was designated for assignment on January 8, 2015, and released on March 19.

Texas Rangers / Philadelphia Phillies

On March 22, 2015, Pastornicky signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. He was assigned to AA

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are named for the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regi ...

. He was then promoted from AA to AAA

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

. The Rangers traded Pastornicky to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for cash considerations on August 10. He elected free agency in November 2015.

International competition

Pastornicky represented the United States at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

, and earned a silver medal as a member of the

team. In October, Pastornicky was placed on the roster for the inaugural 2015 WBSC Premier12. The United States finished the tournament with a silver medal.

Personal life

He is the son of former

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

Cliff Pastornicky Clifford Scot Pastornicky (born November 18, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. Pastornicky was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 8th round of the 1980 draft. He made his debut on June 14, 1983 with the Royals, and b ...

and the grandson of Ernest Pastornicky, who played in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

minor league system.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastornicky, Tyler 1989 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Baseball players from Florida Dunedin Blue Jays players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Gwinnett Braves players Lansing Lugnuts players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball shortstops Mississippi Braves players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Phoenix Desert Dogs players Round Rock Express players Sportspeople from Bradenton, Florida Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic United States national baseball team players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games IMG Academy alumni