Chad Green

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Note: This page is for pitcher Chad Green who made his major league debut in 2016; for others with the same name click here.

Chad Keith Green

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Chad Green began his professional career in 2013.

He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 37th round of the 2010 amateur draft. He did not sign (though he was the first draftee from that round to make the majors). He was next drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th round of the 2013 amateur draft. He inked a contract and was also the first player from that round to make the majors.

Green pitched for the GCL Tigers and Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2013, going 4-0 with a 3.54 ERA in 20 1/3 innings. In 2014, with the West Michigan Whitecaps, he went 6-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 125 batters. He allowed only 121 hits and 28 walks in 130 1/3 innings. With the Erie SeaWolves in 2015, Green went 5-14 with a 3.93 ERA in 27 starts, averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings. On December 9, 2015, he was traded with pitcher Luis Cessa to the New York Yankees for pitcher Justin Wilson.

After going 2-3 with a 1,22 ERA in seven starts for the Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to begin 2016, the pitcher was promoted to the majors to make a spot start. Facing the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 16th, he went 4 innings, allowing 4 earned runs (6 total) on 8 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 5 batters. He surrendered 2 home runs, to Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb, respectively. He was relieved by Nick Goody, who was then relieved by Conor Mullee, who was also making his big league debut that day. He was on a shuttle between New York and Scranton over the next few months, making three more trips back and forth, then on August 15th was called up to make another spot start, this time against the Toronto Blue Jays. It turned out to be the best game of his young career as he went 6 innings during which he did not allow a run and struck out 11, getting credit for a 1-0 win over R.A. Dickey. He finished that first season with a record of 2-4, 4.73 and 1 save in 12 major league games, including 8 starts.

Given his mediocre rookie season, Green was not considered a major element of the Yankees' pitching staff coming into 2017, and it was expected that he would continue to move between AAA and the majors, filling out where needed. But that is not how things turned out. He made only 1 start in the majors after being called up to New York in May, and then never went back down. In 40 appearances, he put up excellent numbers as he progressively assumed a more and more important role out of the Yankees' bullpen. He went 5-0 with an excellent ERA of 1.83 and an amazing 103 strikeouts in 69 innings, against a mere 34 hits and 17 walks. By the time the postseason rolled around, he was commonly referred to as the Yankees' "secret weapon" out of the bullpen and a potential difference maker. That is exactly what happened in the Wild Card Game against the Minnesota Twins, as he was called in to relieve starter Luis Severino with only one out in the 1st, three runs already in, and runners on second and third. He probably saved the Yankees' season by quickly striking out Byron Buxton and Jason Castro, stranding the two runners and keeping his team within striking distance. Indeed, his teammates rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 1st, and he followed that with an overpowering 1-2-3 2nd inning, before the Yankees took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the 2nd. While he had experience as a starter and was seen as a potential long man out of the bullpen, his recent experience had been in short outings, and he began to show signs of fatigue in the 3rd, loading the bases before ceding the ball to David Robertson. The Twins managed to score the tying run on a ground ball, but he had done the job: the Yankees scored in the bottom of the inning to take the lead again and never looked back after that, going on to an 8-4 win.

On July 4, 2021, he had one of the best games of his career in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets. After a brief appearance in the opener, he came in in relief in the 5th inning of the second game with the Yankees holding a 3-2 lead, and he proceeded to retire the Mets in order over the next three frames to seal the win, throwing an immaculate inning - three strikeouts on nine pitches - in the 7th inning to end the game. He was credited with a save, but could have instead earned the win as starter Nestor Cortes had pitched just 3 1/3 innings and was thus ineligible, and the Yankees' other pitcher, Darren O'Day, had allowed both of the Mets' runs in his brief stint on the mound, whereas Green was dominant, striking out six of the nine batters he had faced. Still, O'Day got credit for the win, and Green for the save. It was a doubly important outing as the Yankees had been struggling of late and had blow a late-game lead in the opener, using all of their top relievers in the process. For the season, he went 10-7, 3.12 with 6 saves, throwing 83 2/3 innings in 67 games, allowing just 57 hits and 17 walks while striking out 99. He also pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the Wild Card Game which the Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox.

He started the 2022 season with 15 innings pitched, giving up 6 runs and registering 1 save to go with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 3.00. During the 6th inning on May 19th in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, Green called out his trainer and catcher and was removed from the game. It was later announced that he would need Tommy John surgery, and would miss the rest of the season. This was his first career stint on the injured list in the majors, dating all the way back to 2016. His loss was a big blow to the Yankees, especially as closer Aroldis Chapman was struggling, and another important reliever from the previous few season, Jonathan Loaisiga, was also not at his best, putting additional pressure on relatively untested members of the pitching staff.

On January 31, 2023, he signed a two-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. The team knew that he was still recovering from his surgery and would not be available until late in the season, and indeed his first appearance on the mound only came on September 1st. He was rocked in his first outing, giving up 4 runs - 3 of them unearned - in just two-thirds of an inning against the Colorado Rockies, but he pitched better after that, ending up at 3-0, 5.25 in 12 outings. He was added to the postseason roster and pitched one and a third scoreless innings in the two-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card Series. At the start of the 2024 season, he received a promotion because the Jays' top two relievers, Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson, both started the year on the injured list. It took until their sixth game for the Blue Jays to play a close game, but on April 2nd he earned his first win of the season when he extinguished a fire with two men on in the 8th when José Altuve was picked off third base by C Alejandro Kirk, then after a two-run homer by Davis Schneider in the top of the 9th, he retired the Astros in order thanks to another baserunning mistake - in this case pinch-runner Jake Meyers tripping and falling in no man's land while attempting to steal second base, becoming a sitting duck for Kirk. The Jays won the game, 2-1.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mark Feinsand: "Green has been Yankees 'pen's secret weapon: Right-hander's multi-inning performances reminiscent of Rivera", mlb.com, October 2, 2017. [1]
  • Bryan Hoch: "Green's versatility a luxury for Yankees", mlb.com, February 8, 2018. [2]
  • Keegan Matheson: "Blue Jays sign reliever Chad Green to 2-year deal", mlb.com, February 1, 2023. [3]
  • Wallace Matthews: "Yankees' Chad Green gamble comes up snake eyes", ESPN.com, May 17, 2016. [4]
  • Darragh McDonald: "Chad Green To Undergo Tommy John Sugury" mlbtraderumors.com, May 22nd, 2022 [5]

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