John Patrick Sears (born February 19, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the New York Yankees.

JP Sears
Sears with the New York Yankees in 2022
Athletics – No. 38
Pitcher
Born: (1996-02-19) February 19, 1996 (age 28)
Sumter, South Carolina, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 13, 2022, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Win–loss record22–30
Earned run average4.36
Strikeouts349
Teams

Career

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Seattle Mariners

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Sears graduated from Wilson Hall, a private school in Sumter, South Carolina,[1] and then attended The Citadel, where he played college baseball for The Citadel Bulldogs. He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 11th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He signed and spent his first professional season with the Everett AquaSox and the Clinton LumberKings, going 1–2 with a 0.65 ERA over 27+23 innings.

New York Yankees

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On November 18, 2017, the Mariners traded Sears and Juan Then to the New York Yankees for Nick Rumbelow.[3] He spent the 2018 season with the Charleston RiverDogs, starting ten games and going 1–5 with a 2.67 ERA with 54 strikeouts over 54 innings.[4] In 2019, he pitched for the Tampa Tarpons and went 4–4 with a 4.07 ERA over 48+23 innings. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season.[5] He split the 2021 season between the Somerset Patriots and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, going 10–2 with a 3.46 ERA over 25 games (18 starts), striking out 136 batters over 104 innings.[6]

The Yankees added Sears to their 40-man roster after the 2021 season.[7] He made the Yankees Opening Day roster in 2022 and made his major league debut on April 13.[8] Sears earned his first major league win on April 16, but was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.[9]

Oakland Athletics

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The Yankees traded Sears, Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk, and Cooper Bowman to the Oakland Athletics for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino on August 1, 2022.[10] The Athletics assigned Sears to the Las Vegas Aviators[11] and promoted him to the major leagues to make his first appearance for the Athletics on August 10.[12] In 2023, Sears led the A's pitchers in games started (32), innings pitched (172.1), and strikeouts (161) while posting a 5-14 record and a 4.54 ERA.

After giving up nine runs across 9.1 innings in his first two starts of the 2024 season, Sears took a no-hitter into the 7th inning on April 11 against Texas. He ended up pitching 6.1 innings and striking out 5 batters in a 1-0 win.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Yankees Magazine: Circle Change". MLB.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  2. ^ Hartsell, Jeff (June 14, 2017). "Citadel's JP Sears, taken by Mariners, heads Palmetto State's third-day MLB Draft picks". Post and Courier. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  3. ^ Oas, Erik (November 20, 2017). "JP Sears traded to Yankees". Milb.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "Yankees Announce Three Promotions Including Josh Breaux to Somerset". Milb.com. August 3, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Yankees part ways Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade in series of roster moves". Northjersey.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Martin, Dan (November 19, 2021). "Yankees give up on Clint Frazier in flurry of roster moves". Nypost.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Joyce, Greg (April 13, 2022). "Yankees rookie JP Sears thrives in long-awaited MLB debut". Nypost.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  9. ^ "Yankees give JP Sears the ultimate booby prize after 1st MLB win". nj.com. January 5, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  10. ^ Hoch, Bryan. "Yanks get Montas, Trivino from A's for 4 prospects". MLB.com.
  11. ^ "A closer look at prospects A's acquired in trading Montas, Trivino to Yankees". August 2, 2022.
  12. ^ "Pitching prospect's call-up signals start of a new era in Oakland". August 10, 2022.
  13. ^ "Athletics' JP Sears: Stifles Rangers over 6.1 frames". CBSSports.com. April 12, 2024.
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