Donn Roach

Donn Mitchell Roach

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6', Weight 195 lb.
• School College of Southern Nevada
• High School Bishop Gorman High School
• Debut April 2, 2014
• Final Game August 2, 2016
• Born December 14, 1989 in Las Vegas, NV USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Donn Roach made the majors in 2014.

Roach was taken by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 40th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one round after Kyle Hendricks; he did not sign and went on to junior college. He was 12-3 with a 2.67 ERA and 142 K in 111 1/3 IP as a sophomore. The Angels took him again, this time in the third round of the 2010 amateur draft, one pick before A.J. Cole. The pick was compensation for their failure to sign Josh Spence a year prior. The scout was Jeff Scholzen.

He was 4-1 with a 6.04 ERA and 59 K in 53 2/3 IP for the 2010 Orem Owlz. He tied for sixth in the Pioneer League with 7 hit batsmen. He went 5-5 with two saves and a 3.45 ERA in 45 games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, walking only 20 in 70 1/3 innings. He tied Horacio Ramirez and Kevin Johnson for 5th in the Angels chain in pitching appearances.

Moving back to the rotation, he was excellent in 2012 with the Inland Empire 66ers (5-0, 2.16, 3 BB in 41 2/3 IP). He was then dealt with Alexi Amarista to the San Diego Padres for Ernesto Frieri. He pitched for the Lake Elsinore Storm (5-1, 1.74) and San Antonio Missions (1-1, 1.59) after the deal before a right ankle sprain ended his season early. He finished the year with a 11-2, 1.88 record, 1.03 WHIP and .219 opponent average. He tied Matt Andriese, Ryan Bradley and Jack Snodgrass for 4th in the California League in wins. Baseball America named him the top pitching prospect in the league and as having the best control as well as the #17 overall prospect (between Nick Maronde and Brad Miller); oddly, while they said he was the best pitching prospect, they listed five pitchers higher on their top-20 list for the loop (Zach Lee, Andrew Chafin, Tony Cingrani, David Holmberg and Maronde).

He was 8-12 with a 3.53 ERA for the 2013 Missions, going from a 4.40 first-half ERA to 2.66 in the second half. He was 7th in the Texas League in ERA (between Murphy Smith and Tyler Matzek) and tied for second in losses (two behind Sugar Ray Marimon). In the Padres chain, he led in losses.

Roach made the Padres' roster out of spring training in 2014, having never pitched in AAA and without being a major prospect. In his major league debut on April 2nd, he relieved Robbie Erlin with a 4-1 deficit in the 8th against the Los Angeles Dodgers, none on and two outs. He started poorly, allowing hits to Juan Uribe, A.J. Ellis and Dee Gordon to produce a run before retiring Mike Baxter. Carl Crawford opened the 9th with a hit then Yasiel Puig hit into a double play. Hanley Ramirez grounded out to end the inning and the Dodgers finished with the 5-1 win. He collected his first big league hit on April 29th, a double in the 6th innings against Yusmeiro Petit of the San Francisco Giants; however, the bases were empty at the time, and he was left stranded as the Padres went down, 6-0.

Sources

• 2014 Padres Media Guide
• 2010 college stats
• Baseball America

Related Sites

• Donn Roach on mlb.com
• BR Minors page