Daniel Joseph Mengden (born February 19, 1993) 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 ...

in the

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 expa ...

organization. He has previously 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

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

and Kansas City Royals, and in the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are ...

for the

Kia Tigers Kia Tigers ( ko, KIA 타이거즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are ...

College career

After graduating from Westside High School in Houston, Texas, Mengden played

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 ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

from 2012 to 2014. During his three years, he appeared in 54 games with 36 starts. He went 15–17 with a 3.21

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 numb ...

(ERA) and 230

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

Professional career

Houston Astros

Mengden was drafted by 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 ...

in the fourth round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He made his professional debut with the

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

and was later promoted to the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats (often shortened to Cats) are a professional independent baseball team based in Troy, New York. The Tri-City name refers to the three nearby cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy which make up New York State's Capital ...

. In 2015, he started the season with the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, one ...

and was promoted to the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

after recording a 1.16 ERA.

Oakland Athletics

Prior to the 2015 trade deadline, the Astros traded Mengden and Jacob Nottingham to the

for

Scott Kazmir Scott Edward Kazmir (; born January 24, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics ...

In 2016, he began the season with the Double-A

Midland RockHounds The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, whi ...

, but was promoted to the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry, ...

on May 1. With Nashville, he had a 3–1 record with a 1.39 ERA in seven starts. On June 11, 2016, he made his MLB debut, against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He won his first MLB game in the Battle of the Bay against the San Francisco Giants on June 27, 2016. He'd remain in the rotation for the remainder of the 2016 season, finishing with 14 starts for the A's. Mengden recorded 2 wins and 9 losses with 71 K's in 72 innings. In 2017, Mengden spent the majority of the season in the minors, only pitching 7 starts for Oakland. In 2018, he was 7-6 with an ERA of 4.05 in 22 games (17 starts). In 2019, he did not replicate his success as he had done the previous season, going 5-2 with an ERA of 4.83 in 13 games (9 starts). During the off-season, Mengden underwent two intestinal surgeries and an arthroscopic elbow surgery. On September 20, 2020, Mengden was designated for assignment by the Athletics. On October 9, 2020, Mengden elected free agency. While playing for the A's he was noted for his

Rollie Fingers Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985, when his effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseb ...

style

handlebar mustache A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy and upwardly curved extremities. These moustache styles are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a spaghetti moustache, because of its ste ...

Kia Tigers

On December 25, 2020, Mengden signed a one-year, $425K contract with the

of the

. He became a free agent following the season.

Kansas City Royals

On March 8, 2022, Mengden signed a minor league deal with the

. Mengden was selected to the 40-man roster on June 13 after

Joel Payamps Joel Elias Payamps (born April 7, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, and ...

was placed on the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

injured list. He was outrighted on July 2, 2022. Mengden was designated for assignment on September 2. He elected free agency on October 6, 2022. On March 29, 2023, Mengden re-signed with the Royals on a minor league deal.

Personal life

Daniel is the oldest son of Beth and Joe Mengden, and has four siblings: an older sister, Victoria; and three younger siblings, twins Michael and Rachel; and Gabrielle. Mengden was home schooled through eighth grade, at which time his parents ultimately decided to place him in public high school in order to further his baseball career. Victoria is a highschool math teacher and his younger siblings are professional dancers; Michael with the Cincinnati Ballet and Gabrielle with Oklahoma City Ballet. Daniel married Danielle Bishop on November 7, 2020 in Houston, Texas.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mengden, Daniel 1993 births Living people Baseball players from Houston American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Gulf Coast Astros players Kansas City Royals players Kia Tigers players Lancaster Barnstormers players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland RockHounds players Nashville Sounds players Oakland Athletics players Quad City River Bandits players Stockton Ports players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players Tri-City ValleyCats players United States national baseball team players