Mason Peter Black (born December 10, 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

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

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

Black grew up in

Archbald, Pennsylvania Archbald is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is named for James Archbald, the first mayor of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Before being renamed in Archbald's honor, the name of ...

, and attended Valley View High School. He finished his high school career with a 12–5

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

and a 1.19

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 number ...

(ERA) with 123

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. Black attended

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

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

Lehigh Mountain Hawks The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are the college athletics, athletic teams representing Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Hawks participate in NCAA Division I competition as a member of the Patriot League. In football, Lehigh competes in ...

for three seasons. After his freshman season in 2019, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

and was named a league all-star. Black had a 1–2 record with a 3.68 ERA in four starts before the 2020 season was cut short due to the

coronavirus 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 ...

. During the summer he pitched for the Boca Raton Blazers of the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League. Black was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year after he went 7–3 with a 3.11 ERA and 95 strikeouts in innings pitched during his junior season.

Professional career

The

drafted Black in the third round, with the 85th overall selection, of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

. He was assigned to the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants g ...

Low-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, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

at the beginning of the 2022 season. Between San Jose and the High–A

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 the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

in 2022, Black was 6–4 with a 3.21 ERA in 24 starts over 112 innings in which he struck out 136 batters. He was named an MiLB Organization All Star. Black split the 2023 campaign between the Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

and Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...

. In 29 starts for the two affiliates, he posted a combined 4-9 record and 3.71 ERA with 155 strikeouts across innings pitched. On May 6, 2024, Black 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. He made his debut later that day as the Giants' starter against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

, receiving a loss after allowing eight hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts in innings pitched as San Francisco lost 6–1. He achieved his first MLB

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

when he pitched innings of scoreless ball in a 2–1 victory over 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Kauffman Stadium Kauffman Stadium () (nicknamed "The K") is a ballpark located in Kansas City, Missouri, and the home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals. It is next door to Arrowhead Stadium, home of National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Bo ...

on September 20. In 9 games (8 starts) for San Francisco, Black struggled to a 1–5 record and 6.44 ERA with 31 strikeouts across innings pitched. Black was optioned to the Triple-A

to begin the 2025 season.

References

External links

Lehigh Mountain Hawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Mason 1999 births Living people Baseball players from Scranton, Pennsylvania Brewster Whitecaps players Eugene Emeralds players Lehigh Mountain Hawks baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players