Brandon Allen Falker Claussen (born May 1, 1979) is a former Major League Baseball

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 ...

Career

Claussen graduated from Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico. He then attended Howard College in Big Spring, Texas. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 34th round of the

1998 Major League Baseball Draft The 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

while in college. In 2001, he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts, with 220. In June 2002, Claussen had

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 ...

. Claussen was called up to the major leagues on June 28, 2003. He made his debut against the New York Mets that day. On July 31, 2003, he was traded to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

with

Charlie Manning Charles Nelson Manning (born March 31, 1979) is a former professional baseball relief pitcher who last played for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. He played part of the 2008 in baseball, 2008 season in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nat ...

and cash for Aaron Boone. Claussen was invited to spring training in 2004, and sent to the minors on March 28. He was recalled on July 20 to make his first start for the Reds. Claussen finished the 2005 season with a 10-11 record and 4.21 ERA. He made his final major league appearance on June 16, 2006 and took the loss against the Chicago White Sox. Two days later, he was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis and placed on the disabled list. On August 14, Claussen underwent an operation to repair the rotator cuff and debridement in his throwing shoulder. On January 12, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

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1979 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players Baseball players from South Dakota Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Sportspeople from Rapid City, South Dakota Gulf Coast Yankees players Staten Island Yankees players Greensboro Bats players Howard Hawks baseball players Tampa Yankees players Norwich Navigators players Columbus Clippers players Louisville Bats players Gulf Coast Nationals players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub