Bryan Corey

Bryan Scott Corey

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.
• School Pierce College
• High School Thousand Oaks High School
• Debut May 13, 1998
• Final Game August 9, 2008
• Born October 21, 1973 in Thousand Oaks, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bryan Corey was a well-traveled right-hander, pitching 91 times in MLB with additional stops in Japan, KBO, Taiwan and Mexico.

He was drafted in the 12th round of the 1993 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers as a shortstop. Assigned initially to the Bristol Tigers, he only hit .105/~.298/.137 as his sole offensive skill was drawing walks. In '94, Corey hit .153/.280/.188 for the Jamestown Jammers, fielding a tough .878. With two years like that, his future clearly was not as an infielder. Moving to the pitching mound in 1995, Corey returned to Jamestown and went 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 10 saves. More impressively, he struck out 41 in 28 innings of work. At 22, Bryan was a star for the Fayetteville Generals, going 6-4 with 34 saves and a 1.21 ERA. He allowed 50 hits, 17 walks and struck out 101 in 82 1/3 innings. He led the South Atlantic League in both saves and games pitched (60) and Baseball America named him the top reliever in the SAL. The following year, he struggled for the Jacksonville Suns, with a 4.76 ERA and 3-8 record paired with nine saves.

In November, Corey was taken in the third round of the 1997 expansion draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 1998, he went 4-6 with two saves and a 5.44 ERA for the Tucson Sidewinders, with a WHIP of 1.60. The Diamondbacks needed an arm, Bryan possessed one and a match was made. Debuting on May 13, he pitched three games, allowing four runs in four innings. It would be four years until he returned to the major leagues.

Corey was waived by Arizona in the winter and claimed by Detroit again. For the 1999 Toledo Mud Hens, he went 5-2 with two saves and a 2.86 ERA as the club's most frequently utilized reliever. Joining the Oakland Athletics as a free agent, Bryan was 8-3 with four saves and a 4.24 ERA for the 2000 Sacramento RiverCats, second on the team in appearances. In 2001, he continued wanderings Triple A, going to the San Diego Padres chain and dealing for the Portland Beavers, going 8-7 with six saves and a 4.67 ERA as opponents hit .300 against him in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. In 2002, his fifth organization was that of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his record was 5-4 with a save and a 4.36 ERA for the Las Vegas 51s. He threw one scoreless inning on May 28 for the Dodgers, not making another big league appearance for another four years. Returning to the same organization for a second season, Corey went 4-5 with three saves and a 2.97 ERA in 60 relief stints for Las Vegas. Another year, another franchise with the Chicago Cubs. Going 2-0 with five saves and a 3.38 ERA in 10 outings for the Iowa Cubs, he moved on to the Giants... the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Pro Baseball. In Japan, Bryan went 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA in 21 games. His services were not retained for 2005, signing instead with the Florida Marlins, his 8th organization. For the Albuquerque Isotopes, he was hammered to the tune of a 3-6, 7.65 line and a .312 opponent average. Joining the Texas Rangers in '06, Bryan saved 8 of 12 games with the Oklahoma City RedHawks, allowing an earned run and 10 baserunners in 15 innings while fanning 16. He was 1-0 with 7 saves and a 2.08 ERA for the Frisco RoughRiders. Called up to Texas, he went 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 16 outings.

On July 31, 2006, he was shipped to the Boston Red Sox for fellow pitcher Luis Mendoza. He had a 7.20 ERA in three games for the Pawtucket Red Sox and a 1-0, 4.57 record in three outings for Boston. In 2007, he pitched 58 games for Pawtucket and fared better (6-8, 3.69, 3 saves) while he was 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in nine outings for the Sox. Corey also split 2008 between Pawtucket (5 scoreless innings) and Boston (10.50 in 6 innings) before being sold to the San Diego Padres in May. He was then with the Portland Beavers (a run in 6 2/3 innings) and San Diego (1-3, 6.23 in 39 games), concluding his big league career. Signing with the Texas Rangers, he posted a 7-9, 5.34 record for the 2009 Oklahoma City RedHawks.

Returning to Japan in 2010, Bryan went 4-4 with a 4.87 ERA and .289 opponent average for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He moved to the KBO in 2011. Starting on Opening Day for the Lotte Giants, he fanned seven in seven perfect innings to beat Hyun-jin Ryu and the Hanwha Eagles. He finished 4-3 with a 4.23 ERA in 25 games that year. Let go, he finished the season with Taiwan's Lamigo Monkeys, going 2-1 with a 4.37 ERA. He spent most of 2012 back in the US with the Camden Riversharks but was not too sharp (8-10, 5.91, 152 hits in 126 1/3 innings); he also allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings for the Mexico City Red Devils with a win and a save. He tied for 7th in the Atlantic League in losses and tied for 10th with 89 runs allowed.

Corey became a Cleveland Indians pro scout in 2013. After two years with Cleveland, Corey moved to the Milwaukee Brewers organization where he served in both professional and amateur scouting roles. Corey switched to coaching in 2017 and joined the Oakland Athletics player development staff. He was a pitching coach with the Vermont Lake Monsters in 2017, Stockton Ports in 2018, and AZL Athletics Gold in 2019. He was scheduled to return to the AZL in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the minor league season. In 2020 he also took on the role of assistant pitching rehab coordinator which became his sole focus in 2021. Corey returned to Stockton as pitching coach in 2022 before being promoted to pitching coach for the Las Vegas Aviators in 2023-2024.

Primary Sources: 1994-2006 Baseball Almanacs, 1995 Baseball Guide, Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland, KBO page, Taiwan Baseball Wiki, 2014 Indians Media Guide