Cole McCurry

Cole Edward McCurry

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
• School Surry Community College, Tennessee Wesleyan University
• High School Enka High School

• Born September 25, 1985 in Asheville, NC USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Cole McCurry played in the minor leagues from 2007 to 2013, pitching in AAA for three seasons. He was drafted twice, the first time out of junior college in the 31st round of the 2005 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves, and the second out of Tennessee Wesleyan University in the 43rd round of the 2007 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles.

After signing with the Orioles, he played for the GCL Orioles and the Delmarva Shorebirds of the South Atlantic League in 2007. Not surprisingly, he did well against opponents largely coming out of high school in the Gulf Coast League, going 6-5, 3.07 in 15 games, but he was also the winner in both of his appearances for Delmarva, with an ERA of 1.80 in 10 innings. After this good start to his career he split 2008 between the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League and Delmarva, going 10-9, 4.29 in 28 games. He was named to the NYPL mid-season All-Star team. In spite of his low draft ranking, he had managed to secure a precious starting pitcher spot that year, and in 2009 spent a full year at Delmarva, going 6-9, 2.71 and logging 139 2/3 innings while striking out 145 batters.

He hit his first rough spot in 2010 when he started the year in the Carolina League with the Frederick Keys, but lost his spot in the starting rotation and was briefly demoted back to Delmarva, his fourth straight year pitching there. His combined record was 5-7, 4.35 in 31 games including 13 starts. he still had good stuff, with 105 strikeouts in 97 1/3 innings. Following the season, he pitched for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League, then had a very good year in 2011 as a full-time reliever. After one scoreless appearance for Frederick, he was promoted to the Bowie BaySox of the AA Eastern League where he was dominant, sporting an ERA of 0.80 in 15 games to go along with a 4-0 record. The Orioles promoted him again, this time to the AAA International League where he finished the season with the Norfolk Tides, going 5-3, 4.15 in 21 games. Overall, he went 9-3, 2.57 in 37 games that season, with 72 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings. He looked to be on the verge of making his major league debut, but never would get a chance to pitch in the Show.

In 2012, the Orioles decided to move him back to a starter role, but he struggled at Bowie, going 0-7, 6.46 in 11 games, and also pitching twice in relief at Norfolk. However, the Orioles had a surplus of pitchers in AAA and when they needed some room for former major leaguers Dontrelle Willis and Jamie Moyer, they sold McCurry's contract to the Atlanta Braves on June 16th. He played with three more teams with them, at the Class A, AA and AAA level, with 17 appearances for the AAA Gwinnett Braves. Given the frequent moves and changes of roles and levels, it's hard to make sense of his record, but overall he went 1-9, 5.70 in 35 games, with most of damage stemming from the failed attempt to turn him back into a starter. Following the season, he played winter ball with the Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican League. On January 18th, he picked up the win in the championship game, a 5-4 win over the Indios de Mayagüez. He then appeared in three games in the 2013 Caribbean Series, but gave up 1 run on 4 hits in just 1 inning of work. 2013 was his final season as a pro. he struggled with Gwinnett, going 1-1, 6.82 in 20 games, was demoted briefly to the AA Mississippi Braves, and finished the year with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League after being released by Atlanta on July 5th. he was 0-2, 6,03 for Bridgeport and called it a career at the end of the season.