Anthony Claggett


Anthony Paul Claggett is an American college baseball coach and former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is the pitching coach at Washington State University. He played college baseball at University of California, Riverside. He played for the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009. Since 2014, Claggett has been a coach at both the collegiate and professional levels.

Amateur career

Claggett attended the University of California, Riverside, where he played college baseball for the Highlanders from 2003–2005.

Professional career

Detroit Tigers

Claggett was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. The New York Yankees acquired him from Detroit, along with right-handed pitchers Humberto Sánchez and Kevin Whelan, in exchange for outfielder Gary Sheffield on November 10, 2006.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees acquired him from Detroit, along with right-handed pitchers Humberto Sánchez and Kevin Whelan, in exchange for outfielder Gary Sheffield on November 10, 2006. He spent the majority of the 2008 season with Double-A Trenton, going 4-2 with nine saves and a 2.15 ERA in 29 relief appearances for the Eastern League champions. He began the year on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain, then made one appearance at Single-A Tampa before being transferred to Trenton. All but five of his outings in 2008 were more than 1.0 inning. Claggett was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster following the season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Claggett began the season with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. He was called up to the majors on April 18, 2009, making his major league debut that day where he gave up eight runs in 1 innings and finished with an ERA of 43.20. He was then sent back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Claggett was called up on August 5, 2009, replacing Cody Ransom. He was optioned back to Triple-A on August 7 to make room for infielder Ramiro Peña. On September 14, he was designated for assignment. On September 24, he was claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On September 24, 2009, Claggett was claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. On January 21, 2010, Claggett was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates to make room on the roster for Octavio Dotel. After the 2011 season Claggett was granted free agency.

Independent Leagues

Claggett signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League on March 28, 2012. On June 5, 2012, he was released. In June 2012, he signed with the St. Paul Saints. He played for the Saints during the 2014 season as well, pitching in 19 games for the club.

Coaching career

While still playing minor league baseball, Claggett worked in his first coaching position in 2014 as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the College of the Desert, a junior college in Palm Desert, California. In 2015, Claggett became pitching coach for the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League. Returning to the collegiate level, Claggett was pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Riverside City College in 2016.
Claggett moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2017 as volunteer assistant coach at San Jose State under Jason Hawkins. In 2018 and 2019, Claggett served as pitching coach at New Mexico State under Brian Green. Claggett followed Green to Washington State University in the summer of 2019.