Phil Klein

Phil William Klein

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 7", Weight 240 lb.
• School Youngstown State University
• High School Lincoln High School
• Debut August 1, 2014
• Final Game October 1, 2016
• Born April 30, 1989 in Columbus, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Phil Klein made his big league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2014.

Klein was 4-2 with a 1.92 ERA and 59 K in 43 2/3 IP as a high school senior. As a college freshman At Youngstown State University, he struggled at 1-1, 11.09 but he improved to 5-2, 4.62 as a sophomore and made All-Horizon League. He fanned 80 in 76 innings that season. The big right-hander slumped to 2-4, 6.51 as a junior. His senior year, he was 5-5 with a 3.61 ERA and 105 K in 92 1/3 IP. He finished second in school history in single-season whiffs (behind Brad Hennessey) and career whiffs (behind Aaron Swenson). He led the Horizon League in strikeouts by 19 and made second-team All-League. He tied for 34th in NCAA Division I in Ks. He was taken by the Rangers in the 30th round of the 2011 amateur draft. The scout was Roger Coryell.

In his first season as a pro, he had a 3.98 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings between the AZL Rangers (0 R, 7 K in 2 2/3 IP) and Spokane Indians (1-2, 4.58, 24 K, 15 BB in 17 2/3 IP). The next year, he posted a 1.73 mark with 8 saves, 67 strikeouts and only 39 hits allowed in 61 1/3 frames, while going 6-0, for the Hickory Crawdads (6-0, 8 Sv, 1.90) and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (1 R, 2 H, 14 K in 10 1/3 IP). He then tossed two shutout innings in the Carolina League playoffs.

In 2013, he was 6-1 with a 2.41 ERA and 86 Ks but 47 BB in 67 1/3 innings for Myrtle Beach (1-0, 1.98 in 7 G) and the Frisco RoughRiders (5-1, 2.52 in 29 G). Opponents hit .210 against him. He began 2014 with Frisco.

After making his debut as a reliever with 17 appearances for the Rangers in August and September of 2014, during which he put up an ERA of 2.84, Klein was a winner in his first major start which came against the Boston Red Sox on May 20, 2015. He gave up one run on 5 hits in 5 1/3 innings to earn a 2-1 win, while Shawn Tolleson picked up his first career save in the same game.

Sources

• 2014 Rangers Media Guide
• Baseball Cube

Related Sites

• Phil Klein on mlb.com
• BR Minors page
• Youngstown State University bio