Branden Alexander Kline (born September 29, 1991) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in 2019 and 2020.

Amateur career

Kline attended Governor Thomas Johnson High School in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

. In his senior year, in 2009, he experienced an increase in velocity, reaching , which drew attention from scouts. He finished his senior year with a 6–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

, a 0.51

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 79

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 41

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. The

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

selected Kline in the sixth round, with the 198th overall selection, of the 2009 MLB draft. He opted not to sign, as he had already committed to attend the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

on a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

scholarship. With the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team, Kline was used as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

in his freshman and sophomore years. In his sophomore year, Kline recorded 18 saves, the third most in college baseball, and tying the Cavaliers' record and setting an

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

record. That year, he was also named a first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. As a junior, Kline had a 7–3 win–loss record, a 3.56 ERA, and 94 strikeouts in innings, with 15 of his 16 appearances as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Professional career

The

selected Kline in the second round, with the 65th overall selection, of the

2012 MLB draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

. He signed with the Orioles, receiving a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

just below $800,000. He made his professional debut after signing with the Aberdeen IronBirds of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, where he compiled a 4.50 ERA in 12 innings. Kline pitched for the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 2013 where he was 1–2 with a 5.86 ERA in seven starts. He began the 2014 season with the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, and was named their

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

starting pitcher. In August, the Orioles promoted Kline to the

Bowie Baysox The Bowie Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. History From 1989 to 1992, ...

of the Class AA Eastern League. In 26 starts between both teams, he was 8–8 with a 4.08 ERA. Kline spent the 2015 season with Bowie. By training with a weighted ball in the offseason, as suggested by teammate Tyler Wilson, Kline's fastball velocity improved from to . In eight starts, he pitched to a 3–3 record and a 3.66 ERA. In October 2015, Kline underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

. He missed the 2016 season, and had a follow-up surgery in March 2017, forcing him to miss all of that season as well. He returned to Frederick in 2018 as a

. The Orioles added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

after the season. He opened the 2019 season with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. On April 20, he was recalled to the major league roster for the first time, as the 26th man for a double-header versus the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. He made his debut that night, recording two innings in relief. Kline was designated for assignment by the Orioles on January 30, 2020, and outrighted on February 5. On September 4, 2020, Kline was selected back to the major leagues. Kline pitched to a 1.80 ERA with 7 strikeouts over 3 appearances for the Orioles in 2020. He elected free agency on October 29, 2020. On January 13, 2021, Kline announced his retirement from professional baseball via Instagram.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kline, Branden 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Frederick, Maryland Baseball players from Maryland Major League Baseball pitchers Baltimore Orioles players Virginia Cavaliers baseball players Aberdeen IronBirds players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Norfolk Tides players Surprise Saguaros players