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Jharel Leandre Cotton (born January 19, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Cotton played college baseball at East Carolina University, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

Jharel Cotton
Cotton with the Orix Buffaloes in 2023
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: (1992-01-19) January 19, 1992 (age 32)
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 7, 2016, for the Oakland Athletics
NPB: April 25, 2023, for the Orix Buffaloes
MLB statistics
(through 2022 season)
Win–loss record17–12
Earned run average4.50
Strikeouts197
NPB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record1–1
Earned run average5.89
Strikeouts22
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

College career

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Cotton played college baseball at Miami Dade College in 2010 and 2011. After he was not taken in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers offered him a contract as an undrafted free agent, but he declined the offer and returned to Miami-Dade.[1] He was then drafted by the New York Mets in the 28th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, but did not sign and transferred to East Carolina University.[2]

Professional career

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Los Angeles Dodgers

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After one year at East Carolina, Cotton was drafted by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.[3][4] He signed this time and made his professional debut with the Ogden Raptors. Cotton spent 2013 with the Great Lakes Loons, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts.[5] Cotton missed the first two months of the 2015 season, recovering from a broken left wrist.[6] He pitched in one game for the Great Lakes and four for Rancho Cucamonga before being promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers. In late August, he was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers and tried out for a potential bullpen callup to Los Angeles.[7] Between the four levels, he appeared in 21 games (with 11 starts) and was 6–2 with a 2.45 ERA.[8] The Dodgers added Cotton to their 40-man roster after the season.[9] He began 2016 in the starting rotation for Oklahoma City, and was selected to participate for the world team at the 2016 All-Star Futures Game.[10] During the game, Cotton only faced one batter, Phillies outfielder Dylan Cozens. Cozens flied out, and Cotton picked up the win after teammate Yoan Moncada hit a game-winning home run for the World Team.[11]

Oakland Athletics

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On August 1, 2016, the Dodgers traded Cotton, Grant Holmes, and Frankie Montas to the Oakland Athletics for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick.[12] He was assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Cotton retired the first 26 Round Rock Express batters he faced on August 9, but allowed a triple with two outs in the ninth inning, just missing a perfect game.[13] He was called up to the Athletics on September 7 to make his major league debut.[14] Cotton began the season in the A's rotation, but after starting off slowly, he was sent down to AAA. He was soon after called up again, but was sent down back to AAA. Cotton's splits between home and road were drastically apart, as at home he was 4–6 with 6.98 ERA while on the road he was 5–4 with a 3.94 ERA.[15] On March 22, 2018, Cotton underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2018 season.[16] In 2019, Cotton began his rehab by pitching for the Single-A Stockton Ports but was set back in May by a hamstring injury and elected to have surgery to resolve the issue. Cotton returned to the mound in July and pitched for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators.

Cotton was designated for assignment on November 20, 2019.[17]

Chicago Cubs

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On November 23, 2019, Cotton was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations.[18] On August 16, 2020, Cotton was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was assigned to the team's alternate training site in South Bend, but was released by the organization on September 5, 2020.[19]

Texas Rangers

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On December 14, 2020, Cotton signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers organization.[20] On July 30, 2021, Texas selected Cotton's contract and promoted him to the active roster.[21] Cotton finished the 2021 season with Texas, going 2–0 with a 3.52 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings.[22]

Minnesota Twins

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On November 5, 2021, Cotton was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins.[23] On November 30, Cotton signed a $700,000 contract with the Twins, avoiding salary arbitration.[24]

Cotton made two scoreless appearances for the Twins in 2022 before he was designated for assignment on April 13, 2022, when Dereck Rodríguez was added to the roster. He was sent outright to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints on April 20.[25]

He was re-selected to the active roster on May 10, but designated for assignment on May 17. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A on May 19. Furthermore, he had his contract selected again on June 3 and was returned to Triple-A on June 6. He had his contract selected for a third time on June 8. He was designated for assignment again on August 2. Cotton cleared waivers and was again sent outright to St. Paul on August 5.[26] Also, he had his contract selected for a fourth time on September 11, 2022. On September 16, Cotton was designated for assignment.

San Francisco Giants

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On September 18, 2022, Cotton was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants. On October 20, he was sent outright to Triple-A and elected free agency on October 21.

Orix Buffaloes

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On December 19, 2022, Cotton signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball.[27] He became a free agent following the 2023 season.

Personal life

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His brother, Jamaine Cotton, pitched in the Houston Astros organization from 2010 to 2014.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ Johnson, Dave (August 17, 2010). "Jharel Cotton says no to Dodgers, will return to Miami-Dade". Daily Press. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  2. ^ Johnson, Dave (March 31, 2012). "Former Menchville star Jharel Cotton 'soaking it up' at ECU". Daily Press. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Johnson, Dave (July 10, 2012). "Former Monarch Jharel Cotton to sign with Dodgers". Daily Press. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  4. ^ Gray, Aaron (July 14, 2012). "Dodgers sign Cotton". Virgin Island Daily News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Bernreuter, Hugh (April 6, 2013). "Los Angeles Dodgers Jharel Cotton brings island flavor to Great Lakes Loons rotation". mlive.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Daily News Staff (June 3, 2015). "Cotton back from injury for Quakes". Virgin Island Daily News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  7. ^ Saxon, Mark (August 25, 2015). "Dodgers looking at two minor-leaguers for bullpen roles". ESPN Los Angeles. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  8. ^ "Jharel Cotton minor league statistics & history". Baseball Reference.
  9. ^ Gurnick, Ken (November 20, 2015). "Cotton, Stripling added to 40-man roster". mlb.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Stephen, Eric (June 28, 2016). "Jharel Cotton, Willie Calhoun named to 2016 MLB Futures Game rosters". SB Nation. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  11. ^ "Cotton earns the 1-batter win in Futures Game". July 10, 2016.
  12. ^ Gurnick, Ken (August 1, 2016). "Dodgers acquire Reddick, Hill from A's". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  13. ^ "Cotton Just Misses Perfect Game in Sounds Win". milb.com. August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  14. ^ Slusser, Susan (September 6, 2016). "Zach Neal strong in A's win; Jharel Cotton set for debut". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  15. ^ "AL West Notes: Ohtani, Vogelbach, Whalen, A's, Cotton, Puk".
  16. ^ "Jharel Cotton has Tommy John surgery". ESPN. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  17. ^ RotoWire Staff (November 20, 2019). "Athletics' Jharel Cotton: Removed from 40-man roster". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  18. ^ "Cubs acquire RHP Jharel Cotton from Oakland". MLB.com. November 23, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  19. ^ Chicago Cubs [@Cubs] (September 5, 2020). "Today's #Cubs roster moves: - Recalled RHP Adbert Alzolay from the South Bend Alternate Site to serve as 29th man for the doubleheader - Claimed INF Ildemaro Vargas off waivers from the Twins - Released RHP Jharel Cotton" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Harrigan, Thomas (December 14, 2020). "Rangers sign revival project Cotton, 2 others". MLB.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  21. ^ "Rangers Select Contracts of RHP's Drew Anderson and Jharel Cotton from Triple-A Round Rock; Activate RHP Josh Sborz from Paternity List". MLB.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  22. ^ Weaver, Levi (October 4, 2021). "Grading the 2021 Texas Rangers: Pitchers edition". The Athletic. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "Twins Claim Jharel Cotton, Outright Rob Refsnyder".
  24. ^ "Arbitration Tracker For 2022". MLBTradeRumors. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  25. ^ "Twins' Jharel Cotton: Remains with Minnesota". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  26. ^ "Twins' Jharel Cotton: Reporting to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  27. ^ "新外国人選手獲得のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Orix Buffaloes. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  28. ^ Heneghan, Kelsie (July 7, 2014). "Cotton brothers square off in Lancaster". milb.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  29. ^ Schoch, Matt (April 25, 2014). "Cotton brothers to square off in weekend series". Virgin Island Daily News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
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