Ryan Sherriff
Ryan Sebastian Sherriff is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He has played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals.
In 2011 as a sophomore at Glendale Community College, he was named First Team All-Western State Conference South Division. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 28th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft.
In 2012, he was voted Cardinals Organization Pitcher of the Month in June, and the Cardinal Nation and Scout.com Palm Beach Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year. In 2013, he was voted Florida State League Pitcher of the Week on August 5, and again the Palm Beach Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year, as he had a 2.57 ERA in 18 starts. In 2014, he was transitioned to be a relief pitcher, and in 44 games in AA and AAA he had a 2.88 ERA. He was named to the 2016 Pacific Coast League All Star Team, while pitching for the Memphis Redbirds, and finished the 2016 season with a 7-1 record and 3 saves in 49 relief appearances, and a 2.84 ERA. After the 2016 season, the Cardinals assigned him to pitch for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. Sherriff pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier. He was named to the 2017 PCL All Star Team.
He made his Major League debut in August 2017. Sherriff underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2018, ending his season. He was released by the Cardinals in August of that year, and signed by the Rays in October.
Early years
Sherriff was born in Culver City, California, and is Jewish. His parents are Larry and Renee Sherriff. His maternal grandparents, Helen Wildfeuer and Seymour, were Holocaust survivors, born in Poland, who were interned by the Nazis in the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. He attended Culver City High School, in Culver City, California.He was initially drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 33rd round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft from West Los Angeles College, but did not sign.
Sherriff transferred to Glendale Community College, where he played in 2011. That season he pitched for the college as a 21-year-old sophomore, and as the team's ace was 5-4 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 starts. He was named First Team All-Western State Conference South Division.
Minor leagues
He was drafted a second time by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 28th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, and signed in June. At the time, Sherriff threw a 92-93 mph fastball.Sherriff began his professional career in 2011 pitching for the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie Appalachian League, and for the Batavia Muckdogs of the Class A- New York-Penn League.
In 2012, Sherriff was 10-3 with a 3.25 ERA as he started 16 games for the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Class A+ Florida State League, and shared the lead in the FSL in complete games and shutouts. His 10 wins were tied for 4th among Cardinals minor leaguers, and tied for fifth among Florida State League pitchers. He was voted Cardinals Organization Pitcher of the Month in June 2012, and the 2012 Cardinal Nation and Scout.com Palm Beach Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year.
In 2013, Sherriff began the season pitching again for Palm Beach. On August 3, Sherriff took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Dunedin Blue Jays, but gave up a hit in the ninth, and finished the game with a one-hit, one-walk shutout. He was voted FSL Pitcher of the Week on August 5, 2013. He was voted the 2013 Cardinal Nation and Scout.com Palm Beach Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year. He then pitched for the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League. Overall, for the two teams he was 6-5 with a 2.57 ERA in 18 starts.
In spring training in 2014 Sherriff was told he was being transitioned to be a relief pitcher. He began the season pitching for the Springfield Cardinals. He then pitched for the Memphis Redbirds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. In 44 games for the two teams, he had a 2.88 ERA.
In 2015, he again split the season between the Springfield Cardinals and the Memphis Redbirds. In 30 relief appearances for the two teams, he had a 2.95 ERA.
He spent the 2016 season with the Memphis Redbirds, and was named to the 2016 PCL All Star Team. Sherriff dropped his arm angle, relied on his sinker, and finished the 2016 season with a 7-1 record and 3 saves in 49 relief appearances, a 2.84 ERA, held left-handers to a.172 batting average, struck out 55 batters in 66.2 innings, and induced a very high percentage of ground balls. After the 2016 season, the Cardinals assigned Sherriff to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.
Sherriff began the 2017 season pitching for the Memphis Redbirds, and once again was named to the 2017 PCL All Star Team, as at mid-season he was third in the league in fewest baserunners per 9 IP, and fourth in the league in fewest walks per 9 IP. At the time he was called up to the major leagues in August, he was 5-1 with six saves and a 3.19 earned-run average in 48 games, in which in 52.2 innings he struck out 47, walked 13, allowed 40 hits, and limited left-handed batters to a.198 batting average.
In 2018 he pitched four innings for Memphis. In 2019 he pitched in four games for the GCL Rays of the Rookie Gulf Coast League, and in two games for the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Class A+ Florida State League, and had a combined record of 0-1 with one save and a 1.29 ERA.
In his minor league career through 2019 he was 34-23 with 12 saves and a 3.04 ERA.
Major leagues
St. Louis Cardinals
On August 23, 2017, Sherriff was called up to the major leagues for the first time by the St. Louis Cardinals, after pitching in 217 minor league games in his career, to replace the injured Trevor Rosenthal. At the time he joined one other Glendale alumnus in the major leagues, starting pitcher Marco Estrada of the Toronto Blue Jays. Two days later against the Tampa Bay Rays he became the first Cardinal since José Jiménez in 1998 to throw three scoreless innings in his major league debut. For the season, he was 2-1 with a 3.14 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 14.1 innings, in 13 relief appearances. He held opposing left-handed hitters to a.080 batting average with two singles, zero walks, and seven strikeouts, and a 65% ground ball rate.Sherriff did not make St Louis' 2018 opening day roster, but was recalled on March 31. He was then placed on the disabled list on April 8 with a right toe fracture. He was reactivated on May 4, and then optioned back to Memphis on May 8. Memphis placed him on the disabled list on May 18. He underwent Tommy John surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow on June 5, ending his season and likely sidelining him for at least 12 months. He made five appearances with the Cardinals in 2018 before his surgery, allowing four runs over 5.2 innings of relief.