Dylan Axelrod

Dylan Davis Haines Axelrod (born July 30, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization.

Baseball career

Amateur career

He had a 13–1 record his senior year at Santa Barbara High School, where he was named team MVP. He was undrafted out of high school, and went on to Santa Barbara City College. He played there in 2004 and 2005, had a school record 117 strikeouts in 2004, and was named an Outstanding Pitcher. After two years at SBCC, he transferred to UC Irvine, where he played college baseball for the Anteaters from 2006–2007.^[1] He was used as a reliever with UC Irvine, and was second on the team in appearances in 2006 with 28 and had a 3–3 record with a 4.59 ERA. He recorded 34 appearances in 2007, and went 6–4 with a 3.96 ERA. He was drafted in the 30th round, 927th overall, of the 2007 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.^[2]

Minor league career

Axelrod debuted with the rookie-level Arizona League Padres, going 0–2 in 11 games as a reliever exclusively with a 5.40 ERA before earning a promotion to Single-A Fort Wayne, then the Wizards, where in 10 games out of the pen he had a 1.27 ERA. He started 2008 with High-A Lake Elsinore, going 2–1 as a reliever in 32 games with a 5.29 ERA before being demoted back to Fort Wayne, where he finished the year. He started 2009 with Lake Elsinore, but after 11 games with a 4.50 ERA, he was cut. He signed with Independent Windy City of the Frontier League, where, after he had a 2.21 ERA in 22 games with 6 saves, he drew attention of the South Siders, signing a deal on August 2, 2009. He played with Single-A Kannapolis where, after 2 games, was promoted to Winston-Salem, where he played 5 games. He started 2010 with Winston-Salem before being promoted to Double-A Birmingham, where he played 2 games before going back to Winston-Salem. He started 2011 with Birmingham, going 3–2 with a 3.34 ERA and was a Southern League All-Star before being promoted to Triple-A Charlotte, by then a full-time starter, going 6–1 with a 2.27 ERA in 15 starts before being promoted again.^[3]

Major League career

On September 5, 2011, Axelrod was promoted to Chicago. Tony Peña was transferred to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.^[4] He made his MLB debut on September 7, 2011, pitching 2 scoreless innings in relief of starter John Danks in a game the White Sox lost, 5–4, to the Minnesota Twins. Axelrod made his first Major League start a week later on September 14 vs. the first-place Detroit Tigers, who were on an 11-game win streak. He exited after six innings with a 5–2 lead, striking out eight Tigers. Unfortunately for Axelrod, the White Sox bullpen blew the lead in the 9th inning and he did not pick up the win. It was announced prior to his start that Axelrod would assume Jake Peavy's place in the White Sox rotation for the remainder of the 2011 season.

Axelrod started two more games for the 2011 season: September 20 against Cleveland, pitching 4 ²⁄₃ innings and allowing seven hits and four runs; but was back on form September 26 against Toronto, pitching six shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out six, and recording his first Major League win.^[5]

Axelrod struggled in 2013, with a 4–11 record and 5.68 ERA. Among pitchers who threw as many innings or more as Axelrod (128 ¹⁄₃), only four had worse ERAs.^[6] After the 2013 season, Axelrod was non-tendered by the White Sox, making him a free agent.^[7] He was re-signed to a minor league deal on January 9, 2014.^[8]

Axelrod was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on July 17, 2014.^[9]

Scouting report

Axelrod's broad repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball (86–90 mph), a sinker (86–90 mph), a cutter (85–88 mph), a slider (80–83 mph), a curveball (72–76 mph), and a changeup (80–85 mph). The cutter is his least commonly used pitch.^[10]

Personal life

Axelrod was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Joni and Dennis Axelrod.^[11] Axelrod is a Christian (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).^[12]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)