Tyler Pastornicky

Tyler Brock Pastornicky

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
• High School Pendleton School
• Debut April 5, 2012
• Final Game July 25, 2014
• Born December 13, 1989 in Bradenton, FL USA

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Biographical Information

Tyler Pastornicky is the son of major leaguer Cliff Pastornicky and the grandson of Ernest Pastornicky.

Pastornicky was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the 2008 amateur draft. He had a college commitment to Florida State University but was signed by scout Joel Grampietro for the Jays instead. With the GCL Blue Jays that year, he hit .263/.349/.356 and stole 27 bases in 32 tries. He fielded .962, leading all shortstops in the Gulf Coast League.

Pastornicky split 2009 between the Lansing Lugnuts (.269/.336/.346 in 109 G, 51 SB in 66 tries) and the Dunedin Blue Jays (.270/.303/.317 in 15 G). Overall, he stole 57 bases. He was second in the Midwest League in steals behind only Dee Gordon, the league MVP. He fielded .951 overall at short. Back with Dunedin to start 2010, he was hitting .258/.348/.376 after 77 games with 50 runs and 24 swipes in 31 attempts. He was then traded with Tim Collins and Alex Gonzalez to the Atlanta Braves for Yunel Escobar and Jo-Jo Reyes. He finished the year with the AA Mississippi Braves, hitting .254 in 38 games.

He was called up to the active roster of the Atlanta Braves prior to the final game of the 2011 season but did not get into the game. He had started the year back at Mississippi, hitting .299 in 90 games, then was blazing-hot after a late-season promotion to the AAA Gwinnett Braves. In 27 games in the International League, he hit .365 with 15 runs, to end the year with a combined .314 average in 117 games, with 65 runs and 45 RBI. After the season, the Braves elected not to re-sign their shortstop, Alex Gonzalez for 2012, leaving the job open for Tyler, although they did sign veteran Jack Wilson as insurance in case the 22-year-old proved not to be ready to handle everyday duties at the major league level. He hit his first major league homer off the Houston Astros' Kyle Weiland on April 10th, but was sent back to the minors after spending April and May in the majors. He returned in mid-July and stayed until the end of the season, but was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter from that point forward. He ended the year at .243 in 76 games, but with just 169 at-bats and an OPS+ of 65. The Braves never did settle on a regular at short that season, as Tyler, Andrelton Simmons and Paul Janish all got between 40 and 49 starts, and Wilson another 13. Only Simmons contributed with the bat, and he became the regular the following season. He appeared in the Wild card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals on October 5th, pinch-running for pinch-hitter Brian McCann in the bottom of the 8th in the 6-3 loss, without scoring.

For Pastornicky, after having failed to establish himself as a rookie, he got a couple more looks with the Braves in 2013 and 2014, but both were brief. The first year, he hit .300 in 20 games, but only came to bat 30 times and his OPS+ was just 82; the second year, he hit .200 in 28 games and 40 at-bats. He made a total of 16 appearances at second base over the two seasons, as pinch-hitting was again his main duty. His final major league appearance came on July 25, 2014.

He represented the United States in the 2015 Premier 12. It marked the end of his professional career, as 2015 was his final season in the minors.

Sources

• 2009-2010 Baseball Almanacs
• 2010 Blue Jays Media Guide

Related Sites

• Tyler Pastornicki on mlb.com