Tyler Brock Pastornicky (born December 13, 1989) 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He was drafted by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

in 2008 Major League Baseball draft and made his

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) debut with 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 ...

in 2012.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Pastornicky was drafted by the

in the fifth round, with the 159th overall selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft out of The Pendleton School. Pastornicky played 2008 with the rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays its ...

, hitting .263 in 50 games with one home run, 17 RBI, and 27 stolen bases in 32 attempts. He played 2009 mostly with the Single-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

, hitting .269 in 109 games with one home run, 31 RBI, and 51 stolen bases in 66 attempts. Pastornicky played 15 games with High-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

. He started 2010 with Dunedin, hitting .258 with six home runs, 35 RBI, and 24 stolen bases in 31 attempts. Pastornicky was named to the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

All-Star Game.

Atlanta Braves

On July 15, 2010, the Blue Jays traded Pastornicky along with Álex González and Tim Collins to the

in exchange for

Yunel Escobar Yunel Escobar Almenares (born November 2, 1982) is a Cuban-born American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Na ...

and Jo-Jo Reyes. He finished 2010 with the Double-A

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they were referred to locally, were a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, from 2005 to 2024. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and competed in ...

. In total, Pastornicky hit .257 in 115 games with eight home runs, 50 RBI, and 35 stolen bases in 44 attempts. Following the season, he played for the

Phoenix Desert Dogs Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), an immortal bird in ancient Greek mythology * Phoenix, Arizona, the capital of the U.S. state of Arizona and the most populous state capital in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: ...

, where he went 15-for-54 (.278) in 15 games. Pastornicky played 2011 mostly with Mississippi, but also played 27 games for the Triple-A

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

. With Mississippi, he hit .299 with six home runs and 36 RBI in 90 games and stole 20 of 28. He was named to the

Southern League All-Star Game The Southern League All-Star Game was an annual baseball game sanctioned by Minor League Baseball between professional players from the teams of the Double-A Southern League. Each division, North and South, fielded a team composed of players in t ...

. Pastornicky was called up to the majors for the first time on September 28, 2011. However, he did not appear for Atlanta before the conclusion of the season, and briefly became 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 ...

. Pastornicky made his major league debut on April 5, 2012, as the

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 ...

shortstop for the Braves against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Pastornicky recorded his first hit that day, a triple off of Ramón Ramírez that went over the head of center fielder Andrés Torres. His first home run came on April 10, against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Minute Maid Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

. Pastornicky was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett after having the lowest fielding percentage among all major league shortstops. He was replaced by Andrelton Simmons who was called up from Double-A Mississippi on June 2. In 76 total appearances for the Braves during his rookie campaign, Pastornicky batted .243/.287/.325 with two home runs, 13 RBI, and two stolen bases. Pastornicky played in 20 games for Atlanta during the 2013 season, going 9-for-30 (.300) with no home runs or RBI. He made 28 appearances for the Braves in 2014, slashing .200/.304/.250 with no home runs and two RBI. Pastornicky 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 Braves on January 8, 2015, and later released by the organization on March 19.

Texas Rangers / Philadelphia Phillies

On March 22, 2015, Pastornicky signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. He was assigned to AA

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 ...

. He was then promoted from AA to AAA

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

. The Rangers traded Pastornicky to 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 ...

for cash considerations on August 10. He elected free agency in November 2015.

International competition

Pastornicky represented the United States at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, and earned a silver medal as a member of the

team. In October, Pastornicky was placed on the roster for the inaugural

2015 WBSC Premier12 The 2015 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship sponsored by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the inaugural event of the WBSC Premier12. It was held from November 8 to 21 in Taiwan and Japan. The South Korea ...

. The United States finished the tournament with a silver medal.

Personal life

He is the son of former

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 ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Cliff Pastornicky and the grandson of Ernest Pastornicky, who played in the

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

minor league system.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastornicky, Tyler 1989 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Baseball players from Bradenton, Florida Dunedin Blue Jays players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Gwinnett Braves players Lansing Lugnuts players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players 21st-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball shortstops Mississippi Braves players Phoenix Desert Dogs players Round Rock Express players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic United States national baseball team players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in baseball IMG Academy alumni