Bryce Montes de Oca (born April 23, 1996) is an American

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 ...

in the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organization. He made his

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) debut in 2022.

Early life

Montes de Oca was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to parents Ivo and Susan. He is of Cuban descent.

Amateur career

Montes de Oca attended Lawrence High School in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. He played for the school's baseball team, but required

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 ...

in April 2013. He returned in 2014, throwing a fastball. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' selected him for their All-Kansas high school baseball team. The

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

selected Montes de Oca in the 14th round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He did not sign with the White Sox, and enrolled at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

, where he played

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 ...

for the Missouri Tigers. Montes de Oca had a second elbow surgery while with Missouri, and pitched in his first two years. He returned from the injury throwing as fast as . In 2015 and 2016, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Falmouth Commodores of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. The

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

selected him in the 15th round of the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

, but he did not sign, and returned to Missouri in 2018. On March 2, 2018, Montes de Oca and two

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 ...

s combined to throw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

Professional career

The

selected him in the ninth round, 260th overall, of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

. He signed with the Mets, beginning his professional career. Montes de Oca underwent multiple surgeries after being drafted, however, and made his professional debut on May 5, 2021, with the High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

. He finished the year with the Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mira ...

, posting a 4.50 ERA with 47 strikeouts and 6 saves in 34.0 innings of work across 28 games for both teams. He began the 2022 season with Binghamton before being promoted to the Triple-A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

. In 44 combined games, he registered a 3–3 record and 3.33 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 11 saves in 51.1 innings pitched. On September 3, 2022, Montes de Oca was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the same day, striking out one batter and yielding one hit, one walk and no runs pitching of an inning to finish a 7–1 loss to the

. He finished his rookie campaign with a 10.80 ERA and 6 strikeouts in 3.1 innings across 3 appearances. On March 28, 2023, it was announced that Montes de Oca would undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove bone fragments from his right elbow, sidelining him for four months. During the surgery, doctors discovered that he needed

and performed the procedure, ending his 2023 season. Following the season on November 2, Montes de Oca was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A Syracuse.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montesdeoca, Bryce 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Cuban descent Baseball players from Kansas Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Brooklyn Cyclones players Falmouth Commodores players Major League Baseball pitchers Missouri Tigers baseball players New York Mets players Sportspeople from Lawrence, Kansas St. Lucie Mets players Syracuse Mets players