Brendan Joel McKay (born December 18, 1995) 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 ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

in the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

organization. The Rays selected McKay in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, of the

2017 Major League Baseball 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 ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

Amateur career

McKay attended

Blackhawk High School Blackhawk High School is a public high school in Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a mailing address for nearby Beaver Falls. It is the only high school in the Blackhawk School District. Athletic teams compete as the Blackhawk ...

Chippewa, Pennsylvania Chippewa Township is a township in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,037 at the 2020 census. The township shares the ZIP code of nearby Beaver Falls. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Geography Accor ...

. He was a member of the varsity baseball team for all four seasons of his high school career and also played one season of high school basketball. As a senior, he had a consecutive scoreless innings streak. Overall, he was 8–1 with a 0.56

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 130

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. McKay was named the Pennsylvania

Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

in both his junior and senior seasons. He was drafted by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

in the 34th round of the

2014 Major League Baseball 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 ...

, but did not sign and attended the

to play

. McKay was a

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

at Louisville as a freshman in 2015, pitching and playing

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. McKay pitched in 20 games, making 13 starts. He went 9–3 with a 1.77 ERA, 117 strikeouts and four saves. In 61 games as a first baseman, he hit .308/.418/.431 with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 34

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI). Due to his two-way success, he won the

John Olerud Award The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (known colloquially as the John Olerud Award) is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player of the season. The award is named after former Washington State Cougars All-American pitch ...

. McKay was also named the ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' Freshman of the Year. After the 2015 season, 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

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the c ...

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 ...

. As a sophomore, McKay again won the John Olerud Award. As a pitcher, he went 12–4 with a 2.30 ERA and 128 strikeouts and hit .333/.414/.513 with six home runs and 41 RBI as a hitter. McKay won numerous awards as a junior in 2017. He won the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

and

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age ...

and was named the Player of the Year by the ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' and ''

''. He also won the John Olerud Award for the third consecutive season and was named the

ACC Baseball Player of the year The Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year is a baseball award given to the Atlantic Coast Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1969 season, with both pitchers and position players eligible. A ...

Professional career

Minors

The

selected McKay in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, of the

. His

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 ...

with the Rays for more than $7 million, the second largest signing bonus since constraints were placed on the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

in 2012, behind only Hunter Greene. The

Rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

announced that they intended for McKay to both hit and pitch in the minors. He was assigned to the

Hudson Valley Renegades Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson ...

and spent the whole season there. In 36 games, he batted .232 with four home runs and 22 RBI along with pitching 20 innings, posting a 1.80 ERA with 21 strikeouts. In the 2017 ''

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

'' midseason prospect update, McKay ranked as the 3rd best prospect in the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

( Brent Honeywell,

Willy Adames Willy Rafael Luna Adames (born September 2, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, and played for the Rays until 2021. ...

) and the 23rd best prospect nationally. McKay began the 2018 season with the Rays' Class A affiliate, the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

, and was subsequently promoted to the Advanced A

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

, where he both pitched and played first base. In 21 games for Bowling Green, he hit .254 with one home run and 16 RBIs along with posting a 2–0 record with a 1.09 ERA in six starts. In 32 games for Charlotte, McKay batted .210 with five home runs and 21 RBIs and in 11 games (nine starts) on the mound, he went 3–2 with a 3.21 ERA. For the 2019 season, McKay was assigned to the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

. He went 3–0 with a 1.30 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) with 62 strikeouts in 42 innings while batting .167 with one home run and seven RBIs with Montgomery before being promoted to the Triple-A

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

. McKay was named to the 2019

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

Major leagues

On June 28, 2019, the Rays selected McKay's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. In his major league debut against the Texas Rangers the next day, McKay took a perfect game into the sixth inning. He pitched six innings in the process allowing two base runners. He made his debut as a batter on July 1 against 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 ...

, going 0-for-4 as the Rays'

. He was sent down to AAA over the All-Star break but recalled on July 13, 2019, as the 26th man during a double header against the Orioles. McKay hit his first Major League home run against

Trevor Kelley Trevor Michael Kelley (born October 20, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay ...

of 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 ...

on September 22. McKay missed the beginning of the 2020 season after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He began working out again on August 11, but was shut down soon after with shoulder tightness. On August 18, the Rays announced McKay required left shoulder surgery and would miss the entire 2020 season. McKay returned in 2021, starting seven games as a pitcher, three with the rookie-level Florida Complex League Rays and four with the Durham Bulls. Overall, he had a 7.82 ERA while striking out 13 batters in innings. On November 23, 2021, McKay underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). McKay 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 ...

in September 2022, after suffering a UCL injury while pitching with the Bulls in July. The Rays released him in November, but re-signed him to a two-year minor league deal on December 15, 2022.Rays have re-signed LH Brendan McKay to a 2-year minor league contract. He won’t pitch in ‘23 as he recovers from TJ surgery; was released earlier in offseason
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Brendan 1995 births Living people All-American college baseball players Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Pennsylvania Bourne Braves players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Durham Bulls players Florida Complex League Rays players Gulf Coast Rays players Hudson Valley Renegades players Louisville Cardinals baseball players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Biscuits players People from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Tampa Bay Rays players