Brendan McKay (baseball)
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| Brendan McKay | |
|---|---|
 McKay with the Durham Bulls | |
| Free agent | |
| Pitcher / Designated hitter / First baseman | |
| Born: December 18, 1995 Darlington, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 29, 2019, for the Tampa Bay Rays | |
| MLB statistics (through 2019 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 2–4 |
| Earned run average | 5.14 |
| Strikeouts | 56 |
| Batting average | .200 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 1 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Brendan Joel McKay (born December 18, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher and designated hitter who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays selected McKay in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. He played college baseball at the University of Louisville.
McKay attended Blackhawk High School in Chippewa, Pennsylvania.[1] He was a member of the varsity baseball team for all four seasons of his high school career and also played one season of high school basketball. As a senior, he had a 72+1⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings streak. Overall, he was 8–1 with a 0.56 earned run average (ERA) and 130 strikeouts. McKay was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons.[2] He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 34th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and attended the University of Louisville to play college baseball.[3]
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McKay was a two-way player at Louisville as a freshman in 2015, pitching and playing first base.[4][5] McKay pitched in 20 games, making 13 starts. He went 9–3 with a 1.77 ERA, 117 strikeouts and four saves. In 61 games as a first baseman, he hit .308/.418/.431 with four home runs and 34 runs batted in (RBI). Due to his two-way success, he won the John Olerud Award.[6][7] McKay was also named the Baseball America Freshman of the Year.[8] After the 2015 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[9] As a sophomore, McKay again won the John Olerud Award.[10] As a pitcher, he went 12–4 with a 2.30 ERA and 128 strikeouts and hit .333/.414/.513 with six home runs and 41 RBI as a hitter.
McKay won numerous awards as a junior in 2017. He won the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy and was named the Player of the Year by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Baseball America.[11][12][13][14] He also won the John Olerud Award for the third consecutive season and was named the ACC Baseball Player of the year.[15][16]
