Ethan Michael Roberts (born July 4, 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 ...

in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

organization. He made his

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) debut in 2022 for the

Amateur career

Roberts attended White County High School in

Sparta, Tennessee Sparta is a city in and the county seat of White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,001 in 2020.U.S. Census we ...

, and 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 ...

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a Public university, public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as ...

. As a junior at Tennessee Tech in 2018, he went 6–1 with a 2.41 ERA and 14 saves over 71 innings pitched. Following the season's end, he was selected by the

in the fourth 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 ...

Professional career

Roberts signed with the Cubs and made his professional debut with the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, posting a 5.40 ERA over 15 innings. In 2019, he began the year with the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was ...

before being promoted to the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which opene ...

. Over 59 relief innings between the two clubs, Roberts went 4–5 with a 2.59 ERA, 13 saves, and 54 strikeouts. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season caused by 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 ...

. Roberts began the 2021 season with the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off I ...

and was promoted to the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The Cubs play their ho ...

in early August. Over 39 relief appearances between the two clubs, Roberts went 4–2 with a 3.00 ERA and 72 strikeouts over 54 innings. On November 19, 2021, the Cubs selected Roberts' contract and added him to their 40-man roster. On April 4, 2022, it was announced that Roberts had made the Opening Day roster. He made his MLB debut on April 9, throwing one scoreless inning of relief versus 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 ...

. In early May, he was placed on 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 ...

with right shoulder inflammation. On June 23, it was announced he would be undergoing

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 ...

, ending his season. He was non-tendered and became a free agent on November 17. Roberts re-signed a minor league contract with the cubs on December 2. https://www.milb.com/transactions/2023-12-02

References

External links

Tennessee Tech bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ethan 1997 births Living people Baseball players from Tennessee People from Sparta, Tennessee Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Cubs players Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles baseball players Eugene Emeralds players South Bend Cubs players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Tennessee Smokies players Iowa Cubs players