Luke William Barker (born March 11, 1992) is an American former 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, ...

. He played in

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) for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Amateur career

Barker grew up in

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...

and attended Pleasant Valley High School. He then attended

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico (Chico State) is a public university in Chico, California. It was founded in 1887 as one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing ...

and played

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, ...

for the

Chico State Wildcats The Chico State Wildcats (also CSU Chico Wildcats and Cal State Chico Wildcats) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Chico, located in Chico, California, Chico, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. ...

for four seasons. Barker was named first team All-

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

(CCAA) and first team Division II All-American after setting a school record with 18 saves as a junior and repeated as an All-CCAA selection after going 4–3 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 starts as a senior.

Professional career

Traverse City Beach Bums

Unselected in the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

, Barker signed with the

Traverse City Beach Bums The Traverse City Beach Bums were a professional baseball team based in Chums Corner, Michigan, a southern suburb of Traverse City. The Beach Bums played in the independent Frontier League. The team played at Wuerfel Park. The Beach Bums were ...

of the

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Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

Milwaukee Brewers

He was signed by the

on November 28, 2016. In 2017, Barker was assigned to

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are nam ...

before earning a promotion to 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 ...

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...

. He returned to Carolina for the 2018 season and was named the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Relief Pitcher of the Year after going 6–4 with 20 saves and a 2.21 ERA. Barker was assigned to the Double-A

Biloxi Shuckers The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in ref ...

to begin the 2019 season, where he posted a 1.48 ERA over 23 appearances and was named a Southern League All-Star before being promoted to the Triple-A

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

. Barker returned to Triple-A with the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

for the 2021 season. He was assigned to Nashville to begin the 2022 season. On May 30, 2022, Barker was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On June 1, Barker was optioned back down to Nashville without making an appearance for the Brewers, giving him the distinction of being a

phantom ballplayer A phantom ballplayer is either a baseball player who is incorrectly listed in source materials as playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, often the result of typographical or clerical errors, or a player who spent time on an MLB Major Lea ...

. On June 3, Barker was recalled to the active roster. Barker made his major league debut with the Brewers the same day. He made 3 total appearances for Milwaukee in 2022, struggling to an 11.25 ERA, but maintaining a neat 5-0 record and 3.60 ERA across 23 appearances for the Triple-A

. On July 22, 2022, Barker was diagnosed with a sprained

ulnar collateral ligament Ulnar collateral ligament (or UCL) may refer to: * Ulnar carpal collateral ligament * Ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspec ...

in his right elbow. The Brewers

designated Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election, for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's ...

Barker for assignment on August 2. On August 5, he announced that he had undergone

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, ...

and would miss the remainder of the season. He was released by Milwaukee the same day.

Seattle Mariners

On April 15, 2024, Barker signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. In five appearances for the Triple–A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

, he struggled to a 10.80 ERA with six strikeouts across innings pitched. On May 25, Barker was released by the Mariners organization.https://www.milb.com/transactions/2024-05-25

References

External links

Chico State Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Luke 1992 births Living people Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players Baseball players from Chico, California Biloxi Shuckers players 21st-century American sportsmen Carolina Mudcats players Chico State Wildcats baseball players Gigantes del Cibao players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players Pleasant Valley High School (California) alumni San Antonio Missions players Tacoma Rainiers players Traverse City Beach Bums players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic