Koda Glover

Koda James Glover

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 225 lb.
• School Eastern Oklahoma State College, Oklahoma State University
• High School Heavener High School
• Debut July 20, 2016
• Final Game September 29, 2018
• Born April 13, 1993 in Monroe, OK USA

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Koda Glover began his professional career in 2015 and by 2016 was in the major leagues.

Drafted by the Washington Nationals in the eighth round of the 2015 amateur draft (the scout was Ed Gustafson), Glover was 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 19 relief appearances between the Auburn Doubledays and Hagerstown Suns in 2015, striking out 38 in 30 innings.

Going into 2016, he was ranked the #19 prospect in the Nationals chain by Baseball America. He performed well between the Potomac Nationals, Harrisburg Senators and Triple A Syracuse Chiefs to begin 2016 and was promoted to the majors on July 20th. That same day, he debuted against the Los Angeles Dodgers and retired all three batters he faced in order. After making another big league appearance, he was demoted back to the minors on July 24th. He was back in the majors in short order, however, and ended up with 19 appearances for the Nats, with a record of 2-0 and a 5.03 ERA. In 19 2/3 innings, he struck out 16 and walked 7. He did not pitch in the postseason.

The Nationals struggled badly with their bullpen in spite of having an excellent first half in 2017. Koda was an exception to that negative trend, as he did very well when the Nationals decided to install him as their closer in mid-May after trying a number of other options. He converted 8 of his first 9 save opportunities but on June 10th, he gave up 2 runs in two-thirds of an inning in the 9th inning against the Texas Rangers to be charged with a blown save, then was put on the disabled list because of inflammation to the rotator cuff. He had a 5.12 ERA after 23 games, but a K/W ratio of 17/4 in 19 1/3 innings. He did not pitch again that year, and 2018 turned out to be another abbreviated season, as he was limited to 21 games and just 16 1/3 innings with Washington. He went 1-3, 3.31 with 1 save during that stretch. He also pitched 11 times in the minor leagues as he tried to work his way back into health.

He announced his retirement in December 2019 after not pitching at all that season due to health issues.

Related Sites

• Koda Glover on mlb.com