Chris Dwyer

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Christopher Paul Dwyer

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Chris Dwyer was the MVP of the 2013 Triple-A Baseball National Championship.

Dwyer was 24-1 as a pitcher in high school and also passed for over 5,000 yards as a quarterback with 58 touchdowns passing and 21 more rushing. He was named the Boston Globe football Player of the Year. He was first drafted out of high school in the 36th round in 2008 (between Kyle Hurst and Adam Warren) by the New York Yankees, but did not sign, choosing to attend Clemson University instead. Born in Boston, MA, he had started high school in Lynn, MA but had moved to Salisbury, CT for his senior year. He was 5-6 with a 4.92 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 86 innings his freshman year at Clemson. He was drafted again in 2009, this time in the 4th round by the Kansas City Royals and signed with them. He was eligible for the draft after his freshman year because he had already turned 21, having stayed in high school for a postgraduate year in 2008. He was the first non-redshirt freshman ever picked in the amateur draft out of a four-year college. The scout was Steve Donnelly.

Chris made his professional debut with the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League in 2009, going 0-0, 4.15 in 4 starts with 15 strikeouts in 8 2/3 IP. Baseball America rated him as the Royals' #9 prospect and as having their farm system's best curveball entering 2010. He split 2010 between the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League (6-3, 2.99) and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League (2-1, 3.06) before being shut down for precautionary reasons. His combined record that year was a solid 8-4, 3.00 in 19 starts, with 113 strikeouts in 102 innings. Baseball America picked him as the #7 prospect in the Carolina League, between Randall Delgado and Oscar Tejeda, and again listed him as having the Royals chain's best curveball. They also listed him as the 83rd-best prospect in all of the minor leagues.

He then spent all of 2011 at Northwest Arkansas, but took a big step back, as his record was only 8-10 with a bloated 5.60 ERA in 27 starts. He tied for 6th in the TL in losses, was 5th with 93 runs allowed, 3rd with 88 earned runs (behind only Shawn Haviland and Ross Seaton), second with 78 walks (two shy of leader Carlos Pimentel) and 3rd with 126 strikeouts (3 behind leader Matt Shoemaker; Michael Blazek was second). Dwyer led Royals minor leaguers in walks by 9 over Mike Montgomery and his 88 earned runs were one shy of Montgomery. Baseball America still deemed him a prospect, #15 in the TL, between Zack Cox and Kelvin Herrera.

2012 was little better, as between Northwest Arkansas and the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers of the Pacific Coast League, his record was only 8-12, with his ERA rising even higher, to 5.89. However, he was still striking opposing batters out, 104 in 136 innings in 2012, a stat which encouraged the Royals to stick with him in spite of all the runs that he allowed. On May 10, he replaced Greg Holland (on a rehab assignment) in the second inning against the Springfield Cardinals and turned in 6 2/3 no-hit innings (5 K, 2 BB). He was succeeded by Brendan Lafferty and Kendal Volz for a combined four-man no-hitter for the bright spot of his year. For the year, he tied for second in the Royals chain in defeats (two shy of Noel Arguelles), led in walks (68, one more than Ryan Verdugo), was 3rd with 98 runs allowed (after Montgomery and Aaron Brooks), ranked 9th in strikeouts and was second to Montgomery with 89 earned runs surrendered.

The Royals were rewarded for their patience in 2013 when Dwyer put together a very solid year with Omaha. He made 28 starts and one relief appearance, going 10-11 with a 3.55 ERA in 159 2/3 innings, the most he had yet pitched in any professional season. He struck out 112 batters and walked 72. He finished among the 2013 PCL leaders in ERA (6th, between Angel Castro and Asher Wojciechowski), wins (tied for 5th with Travis Banwart, Brian Sanches and Sonny Gray), losses (tied for 6th with James Paxton and Brian Flynn) and walks (3rd behind Maikel Cleto and Johnny Hellweg). The Storm Chasers won the PCL title in spite of being under .500 during the season, and he was at his best in the National Championship Game that opposed Omaha to the Durham Bulls, the International League champions on September 17th. Dwyer started the game and retired the first 20 batters he faced, striking out 8 and not walking anyone; he only gave up his first hit (to Tim Beckham) in the 7th and was credited with the 2-1 win while winning the game's MVP award. He was brought up to Kansas City after the game and made his big league debut on September 24th, pitching 2 scoreless innings in relief in a 4-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Replacing Bruce Chen with the score already 4-0 in the bottom of the 6th, he faced four fellow rookies to start off. He allowed back-to-back hits to Mike Zunino and Nick Franklin, who advanced on a steal-and-error. Dwyer recovered to fan Brad Miller and Abraham Almonte and got Kyle Seager to pop up. In the 7th, he retired Kendry Morales on a grounder to the mound, walked Franklin Gutierrez and got Justin Smoak to ground another one back to him, starting an inning-ending double play. Kelvin Herrera relieved him in the 8th.

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