Cooper Timothy Criswell (born July 24, 1996) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), 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, ...

for the

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

Early career

Criswell grew up in

Carrollton, Georgia Carrollton is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Georgia, United States. It is within western Georgia, about 45 miles (72 km) west of Atlanta near the Alabama state line, and is included in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It is ...

and attended Carrollton High School. Criswell began his college baseball career at

Southern Union State Community College Southern Union State Community College (SUSCC) is a public community college in Wadley, Alabama. Southern Union offers academic, technical, health science, and social science programs to the east-central Alabama and west-central Georgia regio ...

. As a sophomore, he compiled a 10–1

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

with a 2.54

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) and committed to continue his college career at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. In his lone season with the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

, Criswell went 6–2 with a 2.99 ERA and 86

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

Professional career

Los Angeles Angels

The

selected Criswell in the 13th round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He began his professional career the following year with the

Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchi ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

. Criswell did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Criswell was assigned to the Double-A

Rocket City Trash Pandas The Rocket City Trash Pandas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Madison, Alabama, and play their home games at Toyota Field. History In November 20 ...

at the beginning of the 2021 minor league season. Criswell made 12 starts for Double-A Rocket City, going 6–4 with a 3.71 ERA and 85 strikeouts. On July 31, Criswell was promoted to the Triple-A

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Based in South Jordan, Utah, the team plays its home games at The Ballpark at Am ...

. After going 2–1 with a 3.98 ERA and 27 strikeouts through four starts, on August 27, the Angels selected Criswell's contract. He made his debut the same night, giving up three runs in innings pitched. He was optioned back to Salt Lake the next day. On April 7, 2022, Criswell was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder strain and was moved to the 60-day injured list the next day to make room on the 40-man roster for Kyle Tyler.

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 16, 2022, Criswell was claimed off waivers by the

. He was designated for assignment on July 19. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A

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 ...

on July 21. He made 3 starts for Durham on the year, posting a 3.09 ERA with 10 strikeouts in innings pitched. Criswell was selected back to the active roster as a

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replacement player on September 12. He tossed innings against 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, striking out 4 and walking one while allowing one earned run on two hits. He was removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A the next day. Criswell was assigned to Durham to begin the 2023 season, and made 3 starts before he had his contract selected to the active roster on April 17, 2023. In 10 games for the Rays, he posted a 5.73 ERA with 27 strikeouts across 33 innings of work. On November 14, Criswell was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

after multiple prospects were added to the roster.

Boston Red Sox

On December 13, 2023, the

signed Criswell to a one year, $1 million contract. Criswell was optioned to the Triple–A

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. Th ...

to begin the 2024 season. He was recalled to Boston on April 13 to make a start against the Los Angeles Angels. In his Red Sox debut, Criswell pitched four innings; allowing five hits, two earned runs, a walk and four strikeouts as the Red Sox went on the defeat the Angels 7–2. With injuries to Red Sox starting pitchers Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock, Criswell remained in the Red Sox starting rotation. On April 24, Criswell earned his first win with the Red Sox after pitching five scoreless innings in the 8–0 victory over the

Cleveland Guardians 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 , the team has played its home gam ...

. On June 1, Criswell pitched five-plus innings in the Red Sox 6–3 win over the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. On June 18, Criswell was optioned to Triple-A Worcester to make room for pitcher

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

who was activated from the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. He was recalled to Boston on July 12. After rejoining the team, Criswell showcased his versatility as both a spot-starter and high-leverage

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Personal life

Criswell is the son of Dawn and Tim Criswell. Tim Criswell played college baseball at

Georgia Perimeter College Perimeter College at Georgia State University is a college of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Perimeter College was originally a public community college founded by an Atlanta area county board of education before merging w ...

and was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

with the 21st overall pick of the

1983 Major League Baseball Draft The 1983 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1983. The draft saw the Minnesota Twins select Tim Belcher first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' D ...

. On December 10, 2022, Criswell married his girlfriend Alex. In May 2023, the couple announced that they were expecting a child. On November 9, 2023, the couple welcomed a son named Cash Alexander Criswell.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio

from

SoxProspects SoxProspects is a website dedicated to covering the minor-league system of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). History SoxProspects.com was launched on September 20, 2003, by Mike Andrews. The website was originally designed to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criswell, Cooper 1996 births Living people Arizona Complex League Angels players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Boston Red Sox players Durham Bulls players Inland Empire 66ers players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Sportspeople from Carrollton, Georgia Rocket City Trash Pandas players Salt Lake City Bees players Sportspeople from Carroll County, Georgia Tampa Bay Rays players Worcester Red Sox players