Bailey Falter (born April 24, 1997) 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 professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

for 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) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

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). The Phillies selected Falter in the fifth round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks f ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2021.

Early life

Falter was born on April 24, 1997, in

Chino Hills, California Chino Hills (''Chino'', Spanish for "Curly") is a city located in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city borders Los Angeles County on its northwest side, Orange County to its south and southwest, ...

. As a sophomore at

Chino Hills High School Chino Hills High School, abbreviated CHHS, is located in Chino Hills, California, United States and is a public comprehensive high school serving a student body from three cities in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was establ ...

in 2013, Falter pitched his first

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who i ...

16 batters in an 11-0 victory over Bloomington High School.

Career

The

selected Falter in the fifth round (144th overall) of the

. After signing, he made his professional debut with the

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

. In 2016, Falter spent the season with the Low-A

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they were ...

, pitching to a 1-6 record and 3.17 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work. He spent the next year with the Single-A

Lakewood BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locati ...

, recording a 8-7 record and 2.99 ERA in 21 games. In 2018, Falter spent the year in High-A ball with the

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 20 ...

, registering a 8-4 record and 2.69 ERA in 93.2 innings pitched. Falter spent the 2019 season with the Double-A

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...

, pitching to a 6-5 record and 3.84 ERA in 14 appearances. Falter 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season. On April 20, 2021, Falter was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On April 25, Falter made his MLB debut against the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

, allowing 2 runs in 2.0 innings pitched. In the game, he also notched his first MLB strikeout, punching out Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon. In the 2022 regular season with the Phillies, he was 6-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 20 games (16 starts) covering 84 innings.

Pitcher profile

Falter employs a unique pitching delivery inspired by

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

. He takes a long stride when throwing the ball, and releases the pitch from his hand closer to home plate than many other pitchers. This extension allows his fastball, which has an average speed of , appear to have an

exit velocity In baseball statistics, exit velocity (EV) is the estimated speed at which a batted ball is travelling as it is coming off the player's bat. Batters generally aim for a higher exit velocity in order to give opposing fielders less time to react ...

of closer to .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falter, Bailey 1997 births Living people People from Chino Hills, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Florida Complex League Phillies players Williamsport Crosscutters players Lakewood BlueClaws players Clearwater Threshers players Indios de Mayagüez players Reading Fightin Phils players