Ryan Rolison

Ryan Perry Rolison

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 213 lb.
• School University of Mississippi
• High School University School of Jackson

• Born July 11, 1997 in Jackson, TN USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Ryan Rolison was the 22nd pick of the 2018 amateur draft, selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 1st round out of the University of Mississippi. He had previously been drafted in the 37th round in 2016, when coming out of high school, by the San Diego Padres, but had not signed. Shortly after being a 1st-round pick, embarrassing tweets from his past surfaced, including one from 2012, when he was 15 years old, expressing his dismay at President Barack Obama's reelection and expressing hope that someone would shoot him during his victory speech. The Rockies said they had been aware of the tweet and dismissed it as the ramblings of a young and stupid teenager who did not know what he was talking about, which as also pretty much Rolison's excuse.

Apart from his aborted career as a political commentator, Rolison had been a pretty good pitcher, going 6-3 and 10-4 in his two seasons with Mississippi, and 4-0 in a summer spent in the Cape Cod League, all of this with good ERAs and strikeout rates. He began his professional career with the Grand Junction Rockies of the Pioneer League, going 0-1, 1.86 in 9 starts. He was not allowed to amass big pitch counts, throwing a total of 29 innings, which explains why he did not pick up any wins. His usage was more standard in 2019 as he made 25 starts between the Asheville Tourists of the Carolina League and the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League, going 8-8 with a 4.40 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 131 innings. His DERA was a minuscule 0.61 with Asheville, but close to 5.00 in Lancaster, known as one of the best hitting environments in the minor leagues (and a good proving ground for someone slated to pitch in Coors Field). He then missed all of the 2020 season because of the shutdown of the minor leagues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further Reading

• Steve Gardner: "Rockies' first-round pick regrets 2012 tweet calling for Obama assassination", USA Today, June 7, 2018. [1]