Daniel Cooper

Daniel William Cooper

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Southern California, Rice University, Orange Coast College
• High School Costa Mesa High School

• Born November 6, 1986 in Newport Beach, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Daniel Cooper was a minor league pitcher.

Cooper was 7-2 with two saves and a 2.47 ERA for Orange Coast College in 2005. In 2006, he allowed five runs (four earned) in 8 1/3 IP for Rice. He next appeared in 2008 for Southern California, going 0-2 with a 8.71 ERA. In 2009, the senior went 1-2 with 3 saves and a 2.08 ERA. The Seattle Mariners, behind scout Greg Whitworth, took him in the 21st round of the 2009 amateur draft.

In the summer of 2009, Daniel pitched for the Everett AquaSox (0-1, 8 Sv, 4.41, 17 K in 16 1/3 IP) and the Clinton Lumber Kings (0-1, 9.28, 18 H in 10 2/3 IP). He tied for fourth in the Northwest League in saves. In 2010, he was with Clinton (4-2, Sv, 3.81 in 40 G) and the High Desert Mavericks (1-1, Sv, 4.50 in 5 G, 9 BB in 8 IP). In 2011, Cooper appeared for the Mavericks (5-2, 2 Sv, 5.25 in 33 G) and Jackson Generals (1-1, Sv, 4.24 in 9 G). Let go by Seattle, he spent 2012 with the Sioux Falls Pheasants, going 1-6 with a save and a 4.14 ERA in 43 contests.

Cooper pitched for the Great Britain national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In his lone appearance, he pitched in Britain's 16-1 loss to Germany. Relieving Greg Hendrix with one on, no out and a 5-0 deficit in the 3rd, he retired Kai Gronauer, gave up a single to Matt Weaver then got Toby Gardenhire to hit into a double play. In the 4th, he struck out Eric Suttle and Matt Vance, then Max Kepler flew out. In the fifth, Donald Lutz reached on an Albert Cartwright error then Aaron Altherr homered. Cooper retired Jake Shaffer but walked Gronauer and gave up a double to Weaver and a 2-run double to Gardenhire before Hamilton Bennett relieved Cooper.

He pitched for the Karlskoga Bats in Sweden in 2013 but struggled at 0-2, 7.43. He was 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in four games for Britain in the 2014 European Championship. He took the loss against France with 5 runs (one earned) in the 10th after relieving Andy Hegger. He relieved Alex Webb with a no-hitter in progress against Croatia but allowed a hit to Mario Manojlov in the 9th. He tied Andy Orfanakos, Thomas Langloys, Pat Venditte, Yovani D'Amico and Kevin Kellij for the tournament lead in games pitched. Only one other British pitcher (Paul Waterman) worked even three games.

The right-hander was 1-1 with two saves and a 4.03 ERA in 18 games for the Brisbane Bandits in 2014-2015. He started two games for Great Britain in the 2016 European Championship. Against Germany, he allowed two runs (both unearned) on six hits and a walk in five innings; Conrad Cornell took over with the game tied at two but Britain fell, 3-2. In his other start, he got the nod against Greece. He was not quite as sharp (4 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 K in 3 IP) but was replaced by Phil Owen with a 14-2 lead. He did not get credit for the win as he did not have enough innings in.

In the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he pitched one game for Great Britain. He relieved former major leaguer Chris Reed in the 9th with two outs, a 4-3 lead over Brazil and JC Muniz aboard. Muniz was caught stealing to end the game, giving Cooper credit for the save without retiring a batter. In the 2019 European Championship, he saved Cody Chartrand's win over Austria in the 9th/10th place game, allowing one run in 5 2/3 IP for the event.

Cooper pitched once in the 2021 European Championship; the 34-year-old allowed six runs (only two earned) in five innings in a loss to Lars Huijer and the Netherlands; Fred Mosier finished up the game. A year later, he was with Britain for the 2023 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. The veteran made one appearance, against host Germany. He replaced former big leaguer Akeel Morris in the third with a 3-1 lead, one on and one out. He first faced MLB vet Altherr, who hit into a force to avenge the homer from a decade prior. William Germaine hit into an inning-ending force. In the 4th, he retired Daniel Aldrich, struck out Shawn Larry, allowed a Marco Cardoso single and got Simon Gühring on a grounder. Donovan Benoit took over in the 5th. Britain won a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, their first trip to a World Baseball Classic.

Further Reading

• Jesse Borek: "Meet the Great Britain pitcher who owns Mike Trout", mlb.com, March 13, 2023. [1]