Sam Coonrod


Samuel Timothy Coonrod is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Amateur career

Coonrod was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Carrollton, Illinois. He graduated from Carrollton High School, where he participated in baseball, basketball and football. In 2011, his senior year, he went 12-0 with a 1.34 ERA along with batting.435. As a senior, he was named Player of the Year by the State Journal-Register, the Alton Telegraph and the Jacksonville Journal, while academically he was a member of the National Honor Society, and was a Silver Medallion Award winner with a 3.94 GPA.
He was not drafted in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft and enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he majored in management and played college baseball. In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. In 2014, as a junior, he pitched to a 2-6 record with a 2.87 ERA in 15 starts. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, and signed for a signing bonus of $330,000.

Professional career

Coonrod made his professional debut that year with the Arizona League Giants and spent the whole 2014 season there, posting a 1-0 record and 3.90 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched. Coonrod played for the Augusta GreenJackets in 2015 where he pitched to a 7-5 record and 3.14 ERA in 23 games with 114 strikeouts in 111.2 innings. He was named South Atlantic League's "Best Pitching Prospect" by Baseball America, and as having the "Best Breaking Pitch" in the South Atlantic League. He was named SAL Pitcher of the Week for July 20-27, and Baseball America ranked him the Giants' sixth-best prospect entering the 2016 season.
In 2016, he pitched for both the San Jose Giants and the Richmond Flying Squirrels, posting a combined 9-6 record and 2.55 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP in a total of 24 games started between both teams. He was named a California League mid-season All-Star, and earned CAL Player of the Month honors for May.
Entering the 2017 season he was the Giants' sixth-best prospect according to both Baseball America and MLB.com. Coonrod returned to Richmond in 2017, spending the whole season there, going 4-11 with a 4.69 ERA in 24 games.
He pitched in only ten games in 2018 due to injury and Tommy John surgery. The Giants added Coonrod to their 40-man roster after the season.
He began 2019 with the Sacramento River Cats, with whom he was 2-4 with three saves and a 6.96 ERA in 33 games in which he pitched 32.1 innings and had 43 strikeouts.
On May 26, 2019, he was called up to the major leagues for the first time and made his debut that day in the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He retired the side in order, getting a flyout to left field, a groundout to first base and a strikeout. On July 23, 2019, Coonrod earned the first win of his major league career by pitching the 13th and final inning of a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. It was Coonrod's fifth career appearance and his fifth inning pitched. With the Giants in 2019 he was 5-1 with a 3.58 ERA in 33 relief appearances in which he pitched 27.2 innings.

Personal life

Coonrod's parents are Tim Coonrod, a warehouse worker, and Karen Coonrod, a counselor. He is a Christian.