Buck Farmer

George Runie Farmer

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 225 lb.
• School Georgia Institute of Technology
• High School Rockdale County High School
• Debut August 13, 2014

• Born February 20, 1991 in Conyers, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Buck Farmer made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers on August 13, 2014, only a couple of weeks after he was pitching in Class A.

Farmer was a 5th round selection by the Tigers out of Georgia Tech in the 2013 amateur draft. It was his third time being drafted after being selected in the 46th round in 2009 by the Atlanta Braves after graduating from high school, and in the 15th round in the 2012 amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers after his junior year at Georgia Tech.

He signed quickly after being drafted by the Tigers and made 12 appearances for the Connecticut Tigers of the New York-Penn League. Although 11 of his outings were starts, he only pitched 32 innings, being kept on a very strict pitch count after logging a lot of innings in college. As a result, his record was 0-3, as he never stayed in a game long enough to be eligible for a win, but his ERA was a solid 3.09 and he struck out 33 batters while walking only 7. He was then assigned to the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League to start 2014 and did very well there. Pitching on a more normal pitch count, he went 10-5, 2.60 in 18 starts, with 116 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings. He was promoted to the AA Erie SeaWolves on August 1st, skipping advanced Class A. He made only two starts in the Eastern League, however, earning a win and putting up an ERA of 3.00 in 12 innings, before getting another promotion on August 13th, this time all the way to the American League. He had thus climbed four levels of the Tigers organizational ladder in barely two weeks !

In his big league debut, he started against the Pittsburgh Pirates, after Detroit's pitching had been worn out by a marathon 19-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays a few days earlier. He went 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, ending up with a no-decision as Detroit won, 8-4. He made 4 appearances, including 2 starts, going 0-1, 11.57. After his big league stint, he was sent to AAA and finished the season with the Toledo Mud Hens, where he was 1-1, 9.82. He began 2015 back at Toledo, where he was 5-1, 2.98 after 9 starts when he called up to Detroit on May 28th to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Things did not go well, as he gave up 7 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings and was charged with a 12-2 loss.

He finally recorded his first career win on May 27, 2017, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the second game of a doubleheader and striking out a career-high 11. He was credited with a 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. He had gone 0-6, 6.84 in 32 games since his debut in 2014 before notching that elusive first victory. Ironically, Tyler Danish had also recorded his first career win in the opening game, albeit for the White Sox.

Related Sites

• Buck Farmer on mlb.com
• BR Minors page