Mason Alexander Englert (born November 1, 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

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

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 has previously played in MLB for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Amateur career

Englert attended Forney High School in

Forney, Texas Forney is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States, and has been named by the Texas Legislature as the "Antique Capital of Texas". It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The population was 23,455 at the 2020 census. Geography F ...

. In his senior season of 2018, Englert recorded 168 strikeouts over innings. Englert broke a Texas high school baseball record by throwing consecutive scoreless innings; a record previously held by

David Clyde David Eugene Clyde (born April 22, 1955) is an American former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons with the Texas Rangers (1973–1975) and Cleveland Indians (1978–1979). He is noted for his once promising ...

. Englert committed to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

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, ...

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers selected Englert in the fourth round, with the 119th overall selection, of the 2018 MLB draft. He signed with Texas for an over-slot $1 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. After signing, Englert did not appear in an official game with a Rangers affiliate in the 2018 season. Instead, he took part in a new program put in place by Texas for their newly drafted high school pitchers. The "de-load" program as the organization called it, emphasized building a foundation mentally and physically while resting the pitchers' bodies from a strenuous senior season and pre-draft showcase circuit. The players were put through a strength program and classroom work until the post-season fall instructional training started. Englert suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow and 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 April 2019, causing him to miss the entire season. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

season because of 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 ...

. Englert spent the 2021 season with the

Down East Wood Ducks The Down East Wood Ducks were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They were located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a colorful local waterfowl. Establi ...

of the Low-A East, going 6–3 with a 4.25 ERA and 90 strikeouts over innings. Englert split the 2022 season between the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of 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 ...

South Atlantic League 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 h ...

and the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

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 ...

, going a combined 8–6 with a 3.64 ERA and 136 strikeouts over innings. On August 12, 2022, Englert threw 7 innings of a combined no-hitter for Hickory.

Detroit Tigers

On December 7, 2022, Englert was selected by the

in the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. On March 29, 2023, the Tigers announced that Englert had made the Opening Day roster. In 31 outings in his rookie campaign, he logged a 4–3 record and 5.46 ERA with 41 strikeouts across 56 innings of work. Englert pitched out of the Tigers bullpen until July 24, when he went on the injured list with hip tightness. After a setback with his rehab, Englert remained on the injured list for the rest of the season. Englert was optioned to the Triple–A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

to begin the 2024 season. Englert was called up on May 23, 2024. In 12 appearances for Detroit, he posted a 5.40 ERA with 16 strikeouts across innings pitched. Englert was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Tigers on February 7, 2025.

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 12, 2025, Englert was traded to the

in exchange for Drew Sommers.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Englert, Mason 1999 births Living people People from Forney, Texas Baseball players from Kaufman County, Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Tampa Bay Rays players Down East Wood Ducks players Hickory Crawdads players Frisco RoughRiders players Toledo Mud Hens players Durham Bulls players