Chris Michael Roycroft (born June 21, 1997) is an American 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 ...

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

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals h ...

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 made his MLB debut in 2024.

Career

Roycroft attended

Willowbrook High School Willowbrook High School (WBHS) is a public four-year high school in Villa Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The school is located approximately half a mile north of Illinois Route 38 on Ardmore Ave. It is a part of the DuPage ...

Villa Park, Illinois Villa Park is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, within the Chicago metropolitan area. The population as of the 2020 Census is 21,113. Villa Park is a western suburb of Chicago. History When Ovaltine established its facto ...

, graduating in 2015. He was named an All Area baseball player by the '' Daily Herald''. He then attended

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to its main campus and the Orchard Center in Aurora, AU offers programs online, at its George Williams College campus in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and at the Woodsto ...

, where he played

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

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 pl ...

and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. After being a reliever his first three seasons, picking up 9 saves, he converted to a starting pitcher in 2019, going 7–3 with a 2.95 ERA in 11 starts. He was not drafted in 2019.

Joliet Slammers

On February 9, 2021, Roycroft signed his first professional contract with the

Joliet Slammers The Joliet Slammers are a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois, that play in the independent Frontier League. They play their home games at Duly Health and Care Field. They replaced the Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League a ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. He signed after attending a tryout where he threw a 97 mile per hour fastball. He made 26 appearances for Joliet in 2021, logging a 4–4 record and 5.81 ERA with 62 strikeouts across innings pitched. Roycroft improved his performance the following season, recording a 1.08 ERA across 13 games for the Slammers in the first half of 2022.

St. Louis Cardinals

On June 29, 2022, Roycroft signed a minor league contract with the

. He finished the year with the High-A

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peo ...

, with a 4.50 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 32 innings across 19 appearances. Roycroft began the 2023 season Peoria and was promoted twice, moving up to the Double-A

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ( ...

in early May and the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redb ...

early July. In 46 games as a reliever for the three affiliates, he had a 7–8 record and 5.86 ERA with 64 strikeouts across 63 innings. Roycroft began the 2024 season with Memphis. On May 6, 2024, Roycroft was added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the following night,

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 ...

2 batters but allowing a line drive home run to

Pete Alonso Peter Morgan Alonso (born December 7, 1994), nicknamed "Polar Bear" and "Big Meat Pete"," is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut during the 2019 season and br ...

. Roycroft won his first MLB game on June 13, getting the final two outs in the sixth inning against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

. He finished his rookie season with a 1–2 record, 4.19 ERA and 33 strikeouts in innings.

Personal life

Roycroft's parents are Margaret and Don. He has a brother, Corey, and sisters Jazmine and Makense.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roycroft, Chris 1997 births Living people Aurora Spartans men's basketball players Baseball players from Kane County, Illinois Indios de Mayagüez players Joliet Slammers players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Redbirds players Peoria Chiefs players Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players