Luke Farrell

Luke Thomas Farrell (born June 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2017 for the Kansas City Royals.

Career

Farrell attended Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and Northwestern University, where he played college baseball for the Northwestern Wildcats. In 2010, his freshman year, he was diagnosed with a schwannoma, a benign nerve sheath tumor on his jaw, that required surgical removal.^[1] He developed another tumor that was removed and treated with radiation therapy in 2011.^[2] In his 4 years at Northwestern, Farrell had 208 strikeouts, and was awarded with the Big Ten Medal of Honor his senior season.^[3]

The Kansas City Royals selected Farrell in the sixth round of the 2013 MLB draft. Farrell made 10 starts with Rookie Advanced level Idaho Falls, where he went 1-3 with a 6.65 ERA, although he did strike out 45 batters in 43.1 innings. Farrell's struggles continued in 2014 with Single-A Lexington, going 2-12 in 19 starts with a 5.25 ERA while striking out 8.5 batters per 9 innings. Farrell opened the 2015 season with High-A Wilmington, but was promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas in May. Farrell made 16 starts at Double-A, going 5-3 with a 3.09 ERA, although his K/9 dropped to 6.3. Farrell pitched 2016 with Triple-A Omaha, where in 19 appearances (14 starts), he went 6-3 with a 3.76 ERA. He returned to Omaha to begin the 2017 season, where he made 13 starts before earning a promotion to the major leagues on July 1.^[4]

In need of a starting pitcher for the first game of a double-header against Minnesota, Farrell was called up from Omaha to make his major league debut. He gave up 5 runs in 2.2 innings and left the game as the pitcher of record, but earned a no-decision as Kansas City came back to win the game.^[5] Originally recalled as the 26th player for the double-header, Farrell was optioned back to Omaha the next day. Following the acquisition of three major league pitchers from the San Diego Padres, Kansas City designated Farrell for assignment on July 24.^[6]

Farrell was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations on July 28, and was assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.^[7]. On August 9, Farrell was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds ^[8]

Personal life

Farrell is the youngest of three sons born to Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell. His brothers, Jeremy and Shane, are also professional baseball players.^[9][10]

See also

• List of second-generation Major League Baseball players

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)