Tim Cooney

Timothy Manus Cooney

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
• School Wake Forest University
• High School Malvern Preparatory School
• Debut April 30, 2015
• Final Game July 24, 2015
• Born December 19, 1990 in Collegeville, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Tim Cooney made six starts with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015.

Cooney was 25-6 in high school. He was 4-6 with a 5.49 ERA as a freshman at Wake Forest, then 7-3 as a sophomore to win second-team All-ACC. He struck out 91 and walked 18 in 98 2/3 innings, posting a 3.01 ERA. His 14 whiffs in 6 innings against Radford tied John Stokoe for second-most in a game by a Demon Deacon. He had a 6-7, 3.82 record as a junior and was taken by the Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 2012 amateur draft, signing for a bonus of $404,000.

Tim pitched for the Batavia Muckdogs in 2012 and went 3-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 13 games (11 starts). Between the Palm Beach Cardinals (3-3, 2.75) and Springfield Cardinals (7-10, 3.80) in 2013, he went 10-13 with a 3.56 ERA and 148 strikeouts with only 18 walks in 118 2/3 innings (26 starts). In the Texas League All-Star Game, he relieved Mike Piazza in the 6th with the North trailing, 2-0. He fanned Jake Goebbert, gave up a homer to George Springer, struck out Anthony Aliotti and retired Jake Blackwood; Mike Cisco relieved in the 7th. He finished among the TL leaders in strikeout rate (1st), K/BB rate (1st), ERA (9th, between Tyler Matzek and Sean Murphy), losses (tied for 7th with Nick Tropeano) and strikeouts (4th, between Jason Adam and Carlos Pimentel). Baseball America rated him the TL's 12th best prospect, between Luis Sardinas and Kyle Parker. Among Cardinals minor leaguers, he led in strikeouts (15 ahead of Boone Whiting) and losses (one ahead of Nick Greenwood). He began 2014 with their Triple A club, the Memphis Redbirds and had an excellent season, going 14-6, 3.47 in 26 games (25 starts). He pitched 158 innings and struck out 119 batters. He was back at Memphis to start 2015 and was 2-1, 3.63 after three starts when he got the call to the majors at the end of April. He was to replace Adam Wainwright in the starting rotation after the Cardinals' ace was lost for the season to an ankle injury.

In his debut on April 30th, he faced the team he had cheered for growing up, the Philadelphia Phillies, and lasted only 2 1/3 innings. He gave up 3 runs, including a long home run by Darin Ruf, and had trouble getting ahead of hitters, which prompted Cards manager Mike Matheny to replace him with Carlos Villanueva. St. Louis ended winning the game, 9-3. He went back to the minors after that, and came back in early July when he began to take a regular turn in the starting rotation. It took him until his 6th start, his final big league appearance on July 24th, to earn his first win, 4-2 over the Atlanta Braves. He battled appendicitis in September and then missed all of 2016 with a shoulder injury, making four final appearances in Rookie ball of the Cleveland Indians system in 2017.

Sources

• 2014 Cardinals Media Guide
• Wake Forest University bio

Related Sites

• Tim Cooney at mlb.com
• BR Minors page