Austin Pruitt

BIOGRAPHY

Austin Daniel Pruitt was born on August 31, 1989, in The Woodlands, Texas. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Pruitt attended The Woodlands College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas and played college baseball at Navarro College and the University of Houston. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. After signing, he made his professional debut with the Hudson Valley Renegades and was promoted to the Bowling Green Hot Rods in July. In 14 games (seven starts), he was 0-3 with a 1.44 ERA. In 2014, he pitched for the Charlotte Stone Crabs where he pitched to a 9-7 record with a 3.73 ERA in 26 games (25 starts), and in 2015, he played with the Montgomery Biscuits where he was 10-7 with a 3.09 ERA in 26 starts. He spent 2016 with the Durham Bulls where he compiled an 8-11 record with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts. The Rays added Pruitt to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.

On March 30, 2017, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that Pruitt had made the 2017 Opening Day roster as a reliever. He made his major league debut on April 2, 2017. He loaded the bases and was charged with an unearned run without recording an out. Pruitt's struggles would continue; he allowed ten earned runs in his first six innings of big league work. On May 9, Pruitt was optioned to the Durham after surrendering three runs the previous night. He would be recalled on May 31st to replace Chih-Wei Hu. On July 28, Pruitt entered the Rays rotation following an injury to starter Jake Odorizzi. In just his third career start, Pruitt hurled 6 1/3 scoreless innings against his hometown team, the Houston Astros. Pruitt ended the season with Tampa with an ERA of 5.31 in 83 1⁄3 innings pitched, including eight starts. In 2018, Pruitt spent the majority of the season as the Rays long reliever, logging 69 2⁄3 innings in 23 games.

On January 9, 2020, Pruitt was dealt to the Houston Astros in exchange for Cal Stevenson and Peyton Battenfield.

On March 13, 2022, Pruitt signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics organization. He had his contract selected to the major league roster on May 28. He was designated for assignment on August 22, and was sent outright to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. On August 27, Pruitt was selected back to the active roster following an injury to Dany Jiménez. In 39 appearances for Oakland, he registered a 4.23 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 55.1 innings of work. In 12 games with Las Vegas, he had a 3.27 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 22.0 innings pitched.

On January 15, 2023, Pruitt re-signed with the Athletics on a minor league contract. He began the year with Triple-A Las Vegas, making 10 appearances and logging a 2.30 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work. On May 4, he had his contract selected to the active roster.