John Thomas Ginn (born May 20, 1999) 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

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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 made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career

Ginn graduated from Brandon High School in

Brandon, Mississippi Brandon is a city in and the county seat of Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. It was incorporated on December 19, 1831. The population was 25,138 as of the 2020 census. A suburb of Jackson, Brandon is part of the Jackson Metropolitan ...

. In 2017, as a junior, he batted .482 with 16 home runs. That summer, he pitched in the 2017

Under Armour All-America Baseball Game The Under Armour High School All-America Baseball Game is a high school baseball all-star game held annually to spotlight the United States' top high school players who are juniors or seniors. The game is played in late July or August, at Wrigley ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. As a senior, he batted .419 with nine home runs and 27 RBI along with pitching to a 5–1 record and 0.36 ERA and was named the Mississippi Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. He signed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

Professional career

The

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

selected Ginn with the 30th overall selection of the

2018 MLB 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 ...

. On July 5, 2018, he announced that he was going to honor his commitment to Mississippi State and that he would not be signing with the Dodgers. In 2019, his freshman year at Mississippi State, he went 8–4 with a 3.36 ERA over 16 starts, striking out 103 over eighty innings. He was named the 2019

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Freshman of the Year. He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery 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 body, ...

in March 2020.

New York Mets

Ginn was selected 52nd overall by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

. He signed with the Mets on June 30, 2020, for a $2.9MM bonus. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by 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 ...

alongside still recovering from surgery. Ginn returned to play in June 2021, making his professional debut with the

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

of the

Low-A Southeast The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. He was promoted to the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

in July. Over 18 starts between the two teams, Ginn went 5–5 with a 3.03 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 92 innings.

Oakland Athletics / Athletics

On March 12, 2022, the Mets traded Ginn and

Adam Oller Adam Samuel Oller (born October 17, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kia Tigers of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins. He was drafted by th ...

to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in exchange for

Chris Bassitt Christopher Michael Bassitt (born February 22, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2014 and has also played for the Oakl ...

. He opened the season with the

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 Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, which ope ...

of the Double–A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. In 12 starts split between Midland and the rookie–level

Arizona Complex League Athletics The Arizona Complex League Athletics are a Minor League Baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona, which plays as a Rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League and has served as a farm team for the Athletics organization since 1988. They play thei ...

, Ginn compiled a 1–4 record and 5.10 ERA with 46 strikeouts across innings pitched. He returned to the two affiliates in 2023, making 8 starts and struggling to a 7.43 ERA with 17 strikeouts over innings of work. Ginn began the 2024 season with Midland, logging a 4–1 record and 4.15 ERA over 6 starts. In May, he was promoted to the Triple–A

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada, a comm ...

, for whom he logged a 4–3 record and 5.72 ERA with 69 strikeouts across 15 games (14 starts). On August 20, 2024, Ginn was selected 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, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In 8 games (6 starts) for Oakland during his rookie campaign, Ginn posted a 1-1 record and 4.24 ERA with 29 strikeouts across 34 innings pitched. Ginn was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to begin the 2025 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginn, J. T. 1999 births Living people Arizona Complex League Athletics players Athletics (baseball) players Baseball players from Mississippi Brooklyn Cyclones players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Solar Sox players Midland RockHounds players Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Oakland Athletics players People from Flowood, Mississippi St. Lucie Mets players 21st-century American sportsmen