Kodi Whitley


Kodi James Whitley is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball.

Career

Whitley attended Cleveland High School in Clayton, North Carolina. In 2013, his senior year, he earned all-conference honors. Undrafted in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at the University of Mount Olive, where he played college baseball.
In 2014, Whitley's freshman year, he pitched to a 6–2 record with a 2.74 ERA over 13 games, earning Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year. That summer, he played in the Coastal Plain League for the Fayetteville SwampDogs. As a sophomore at Mount Olive in 2015, he appeared in 17 games in which he went 8–4 with a 4.41 ERA, striking out 88 batters over innings. After the year, he returned to play in the Coastal Plain League with Fayetteville, earning All-Star honors. Prior to the 2016 season, Whitley underwent Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the year. In 2017, he pitched only five innings. After the year, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 27th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.
Whitley signed with St. Louis and made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. He also appeared in one game for the Palm Beach Cardinals at the end of the season. Over innings between both clubs, he compiled a 1.53 ERA and 22 strikeouts. In 2018, he pitched for the Peoria Chiefs, going 4–2 with a 2.51 ERA over 41 games, and in 2019, he began the year with Palm Beach before being promoted to the Springfield Cardinals in April and to the Memphis Redbirds in July. Over fifty relief appearances between the three clubs, Whitley went 3–4 with a 1.60 ERA, striking out 78 batters over innings. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Glendale Desert Dogs following the season.
On July 20, 2020, it was announced that Whitley had made the Cardinals 2020 Opening Day roster. He made his debut on July 26 at Busch Stadium against the Pittsburgh Pirates, facing three batters and retiring them all over one inning in relief.