Raymond Alexander Kerr (born September 10, 1994) 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

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

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

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

Amateur career

Kerr graduated from Hug High School in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, in 2013. He 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

Mendocino College Mendocino College is a public community college in Ukiah, California. Mendocino College was founded in 1973. The main campus is located on of hilltop land north of downtown Ukiah in the Ukiah valley. Currently there are about 4,000 students, ...

for two years and then quit baseball, returning home to work at a movie theater and a

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

. The new college baseball coach at

Lassen College Lassen Community College is a public community college in Susanville, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges System. The college is located in Susanville in the high mountain lake country of northeastern California. The c ...

convinced him to join his team. 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 Peninsula Oilers in the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league based entirely in southern Alaska. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. In the past, ...

in 2017, where he reached with his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Kerr signed 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 ...

as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on August 24, 2017. He made his professional debut with the Single-A

Clinton LumberKings The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Leag ...

in 2018, logging a 5–11 record and 4.28 ERA with 101 strikeouts across 25 starts. In 2019, Kerr split the season between the High-A

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the Central Valley. They ...

and 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, ...

, posting a 4–7 record and 3.82 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 92.0 innings of work across 36 total appearances. Kerr 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 ...

. He split the 2021 campaign between the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...

and Tacoma, pitching to a 3.18 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 36 appearances. The Mariners added him to their

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 ...

to protect him from 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 ...

following the season on November 19, 2021.

San Diego Padres

On November 27, 2021, the Mariners traded Kerr and outfielder Corey Rosier to the

in exchange for

Adam Frazier Adam Timothy Frazier (born December 14, 1991) is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners ...

. He was assigned to the Triple-A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

to begin the 2022 season. On April 22, 2022, Kerr was promoted to major leagues for the first time to replace the injured Pierce Johnson. He made his major league debut on April 24. He appeared in seven games for San Diego in his rookie campaign, pitching to a 9.00 ERA with three strikeouts in five innings pitched. Kerr was optioned to Triple-A El Paso to begin the 2023 season.

Atlanta Braves

On December 15, 2023, the Padres traded Kerr, Matt Carpenter, and cash considerations to the

in exchange for Drew Campbell. He was optioned to the Triple–A

Gwinnett Stripers The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia ...

to begin the 2024 season. On May 7, 2024, Kerr was selected to the active roster following an injury to Tyler Matzek. On May 24, Kerr made his first career start against the

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

. In 10 games, he recorded a 5.64 ERA with 27 strikeouts across innings pitched. On June 24, it was announced that Kerr would require

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, ...

, ending his season. On November 22, the Braves non–tendered Kerr, making him a free agent. On November 26, 2024, Kerr re–signed with the Braves on a minor league contract.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Ray Living people 1994 births African-American baseball players Arizona League Mariners players Arkansas Travelers players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Sacramento, California Clinton LumberKings players El Paso Chihuahuas players Gwinnett Stripers players Lassen Community College Cougars baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Mendocino Eagles baseball players Modesto Nuts players Peninsula Oilers players Peoria Javelinas players San Diego Padres players Tacoma Rainiers players