Chris Volstad

Christopher Kenneth Volstad

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 8", Weight 225 lb.
• High School Palm Beach Gardens High School
• Debut July 6, 2008
• Final Game July 26, 2018
• Born September 23, 1986 in Palm Beach Gardens, FL USA

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Chris Volstad was selected by the Florida Marlins in the first round of the 2005 amateur draft. He was signed by scout John Martin and made his pro debut that summer with the GCL Marlins, where he went 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 6 starts, before being promoted to the Jamestown Jammers, where he started 7 games and posted a 3-2 record and a 2.13 ERA. He spent the entire 2006 season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, going 11-8 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 starts.

Chris Volstad made his major league debut with the Marlins on July 6, 2008 with two innings in relief against the Colorado Rockies, picking up the win. He made his first start five days later against the Los Angeles Dodgers and picked up another win while coming within one out of a complete game. He went 6-4, 2.88 in 15 games during his rookie season, but would never quite live up to that early promise. In 2009, he spent almost the entire season in the Marlins' rotation, but was only 9-13 with a 5.21 ERA in 29 starts. In 2010, he improved to 12-9, 4.58 in 30 starts, pitching a career-high 175 innings. The fact that he has never come close to pitching 200 innings while spending a number of years as a full-time major league starter points to the Volstad's main problem, an inability to pitch deep into games. Coupled with a rather modest strikeout rate (5.7 per 9 innings at the end of 2012), menas that his role is limited to that of 4th or 5th starter, and even then he has always been below average. He pitched one more seasons for the Marlins in 2011, witha record of 5-13, 4.89 in 29 starts. he did set a personal high with 117 strikeouts, in 165 2/3 innings.

On January 5, 2012, Chris was traded to the Chicago Cubs in return for P Carlos Zambrano. He had a very difficult season for the Cubs, going 3-12, 6.31 in 21 starts. On October 26th, he was placed on waivers and was claimed by the Kansas City Royals. However, barely a month later, the Royals turned around and designated him for assignment on November 28th, making him a free agent. In the meantime, the Royals had re-signed Jeremy Guthrie and acquired Ervin Santana in a trade, obviating their need for an additional starting pitcher. He did not pitch at all in the majors in 2014, made just one relief appearance, lasting 2 innings, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, then was again completely out of the majors in 2016. He then returned to the bigs with the Chicago White Sox in September of [2017 White Sox|2017]], and while it was just for 6 games and 19 1/3 innings, it was the most action he had seen since 2012. He went 1-2, 4.66 that year. After starting the 2018 season in the minors, he was called up to Chicago in early April to replace a struggling [Gregory Infante]] in the bullpen.

Volstad began preparing his post-baseball career early, as he purchased the Civil Society Brewing Company, based in Jupiter, FL, with his cousin Karl in 2017, then opened a second plant in nearby West Palm Beach, FL.

Related Sites

• Chris Volstad on mlb.com