Drew Thomas Rasmussen (born July 27, 1995) 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

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

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 previously played for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

, for whom he made his MLB debut in 2020.

Amateur career

Rasmussen attended Mt. Spokane High School in

Mead, Washington Mead is an unincorporated suburb and census-designated place north of Spokane in Spokane County, Washington, United States. Named for Civil War general George Meade, this rural area is tracked by the United States Census Bureau. As of 2010, the ...

, and later attended the

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degree ...

where he 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 ...

for the

Beavers Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

. Prior to his freshman season Rasmussen was drafted by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

in the 39th 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 ...

. On March 21, 2015, as a freshman, he pitched the only perfect game in the team's history, in a 3–0 victory over Washington State. He was drafted 31st overall in the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on ...

by the

but did not sign. Rasmussen underwent his second

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's ...

in September 2017 which forced him to miss all of the 2018 season.

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

Despite missing the 2018 season, Rasmussen was still drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player 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 ad ...

. On August 13, 2020, Rasmussen was selected to the active roster. He made his major league debut on August 19 against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

and threw 2 scoreless innings. Rasmussen began the 2021 season in the Milwaukee bullpen. He recorded 1 save in 15 games for the Brewers.

Tampa Bay Rays

On May 21, 2021, the Brewers traded Rasmussen and

J. P. Feyereisen Jonathon Paul Feyereisen (born February 7, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 and has also played for the Tampa B ...

to the

in exchange for

Willy Adames Willy Rafael Luna Adames (born September 2, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, and played for the Rays until 2021. ...

and Trevor Richards. Rasmussen pitched eight perfect innings before losing the perfect game in the ninth inning on August 14, 2022. In 2022, Rasmussen was named American League Pitcher of the Month for August, when he registered a 3–1 record in six starts to go along with a 1.57 ERA and 33 strikeouts against only four walks.

Personal life

Rasmussen and his wife, Stevie, married in 2020. They welcomed a son, Rhett, on September 6, 2022.

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Drew 1995 births Living people People from Spokane County, Washington People from Puyallup, Washington Baseball players from Washington (state) Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Tampa Bay Rays players Oregon State Beavers baseball players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Carolina Mudcats players Biloxi Shuckers players Durham Bulls players