Noah James Murdock (born August 20, 1998) 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, ...

in 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 ...

organization. He has previously 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

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2025.

Career

Amateur

Murdock attended Colonial Heights High School in

Colonial Heights, Virginia Colonial Heights is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,170. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights (along with the City of Petersburg) with Dinwidd ...

. The

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

selected him in the 38th round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

, but he chose to honor his commitment to attend the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

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, ...

for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

Kansas City Royals

The

drafted Murdock in the seventh round, with the 199th overall selection, of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

, recording a 2.17 ERA with 43 strikeouts over 11 appearances. Murdock did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league 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 ...

. Murdock returned to action in 2021 with the High–A

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

, making 7 appearances (6 starts) and posting a 3.18 ERA with 19 strikeouts across innings pitched. He split the 2022 campaign between Quad Cities and the Double–A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. T ...

. In 17 starts split between the two affiliates, he struggled to an 0–7 record and 6.91 ERA with 64 strikeouts across innings of work. Murdock returned to Northwest Arkansas in 2023, making 36 appearances and logging a 5.87 ERA with 77 strikeouts over 69 innings pitched. In 2024, he split time between Northwest Arkansas and the Triple–A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

. In 46 combined appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

, Murdock accumulated a 3.16 ERA with 72 strikeouts across innings.

Athletics

On December 11, 2024, the

selected Murdock from the Royals 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 17, 2025, manager

Mark Kotsay Mark Steven Kotsay (born December 2, 1975) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder. He is the manager for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San Diego ...

announced that Murdock had made the team's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster. In 14 appearances for the Athletics, he struggled to a 13.24 ERA with 21 strikeouts across 17 innings pitched. Murdock 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 ...

following the promotion of

Elvis Alvarado Elvis Ernesto Alvarado (born February 23, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2025. Career Washington Nationals On July 16, 2015, Alvarado signed with the W ...

on May 9.

Kansas City Royals (second stint)

On May 12, 2025, Murdock was returned to the

organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Noah 1998 births Living people Athletics (baseball) players Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Burlington Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Quad Cities River Bandits players Surprise Saguaros players Virginia Cavaliers baseball players