Christopher Michael Devenski (born November 13, 1990), also known as "Devo", 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 Los Angeles Angels organization. He played in MLB for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

from 2016 to 2020, and the Diamondbacks from 2021 to 2022. Prior to playing professionally, Devenski 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

Golden West College Golden West College (GWC) is a public community college in Huntington Beach, California. Organization Golden West College, Orange Coast College, and Coastline Community College comprise the Coast Community College District (CCCD). The district ...

and

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. 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 Devenski in the 25th round, with the 771st overall selection, of the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He was named an MLB All-Star in 2017.

Amateur career

Devenski attended

Gahr High School Richard Gahr High School, often simply known as Gahr High School, is a public, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) magnet high school in Cerritos, California, Cerritos, California, serving Educational stages, grades Ninth grade, ...

in Cerritos, California. He played for the school's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team as both a

and a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. He graduated in 2008, and enrolled at

, where he played

in his freshman year as a pitcher and shortstop. Devenski transferred to

, where he continued his college baseball career with the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Titans' coaches convinced him to focus on pitching, and he accrued

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 ...

over 104 games in two seasons with the school. He also 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 ...

for the

Woodstock River Bandits The Woodstock River Bandits are a collegiate summer baseball team in Woodstock, Virginia. They play in the Northern division of the Valley Baseball League The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball leagu ...

of the Valley Baseball League in 2011.

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

The

selected Devenski in the 25th round, with the 771st overall selection, of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He made his professional debut with the Great Falls Voyagers of the Rookie-level Pioneer League. He started the 2012 season with the Kannapolis Intimidators 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 ...

Houston Astros

On August 3, 2012, Devenski was traded to the

in August as the player to be named later in an earlier trade where the White Sox acquired

Brett Myers Brett Allen Myers (born August 17, 1980) is an American singer and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. Born and rai ...

. The Astros had already acquired Blair Walters and Matt Heidenreich in the trade. He had a 6–5

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 ...

and a 4.23

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) in 19 games started for Kannapolis before the trade. The Astros assigned him to the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. On August 31, in his fifth start for Lexington, he threw 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 ...

with 16

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. Devenski began the 2013 season with the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. He struggled with Lancaster, working to a 7.88 ERA in innings pitched, and was demoted to the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, one ...

of the Class A

. Devenski started the 2014 season with Lancaster and received another midseason promotion, this time to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. He pitched for Corpus Christi in 2015, finishing the season with a 3.01 ERA in

. He was named their pitcher of the year. He was promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

for the playoffs and pitched seven one-hit innings to help Fresno win the Triple-A National Championship Game. He was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the championship game. Eligible in the Rule 5 draft after the 2015 season, the Astros did not protect Devenski on 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 ...

, but Devenski was not selected. The Astros assigned Devenski to Fresno for

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 ...

of the 2016 season, but promoted him to the major leagues on April 6. He made his MLB debut on April 8. He finished the 2016 season with a 2.16 ERA and 0.914

walks plus hits per inning pitched In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP is calculated by adding the number of walks and hits allowed and dividi ...

ratio in 48 appearances. Devenski continued to pitch for the Astros as a multi-inning relief pitcher in 2017. He was named to the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

's roster for the

2017 MLB All-Star Game The 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 88th edition of the Major League Baseball All Star Game. The game was hosted by the Miami Marlins and was played at Marlins Park on July 11, 2017. It was televised nationally by Fox. The game w ...

on July 7. As of that day, he had a 2.09 ERA in innings pitched, and led all major league relief pitchers in innings pitched, in strikeouts with 72, and tied for the most wins, with 6. He finished the regular season with an 8–5 win–loss record, a 2.68 ERA, and 100 strikeouts with 26 walks in innings pitched. Devenski appeared in five games of the

2017 World Series The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the ...

, pitching a total of five innings while allowing four hits and four runs, although he was the winning pitcher of Game 2. Devenski and the Astros agreed to a $1.525 million salary for the 2019 season. On August 3, 2019, Devenski worked in relief in a combined

no-hit 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 ...

shutout of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. The final score was 9-0. He struggled throughout the season, setting a career high 4.83 ERA in 61 games. On September 15, 2020, Devenski underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow and missed the rest of the 2020 season. At the time of the surgery, he had allowed 6 earned runs across 3.2 frames.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On January 20, 2021, Devenski signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. On March 29, 2021, Devenski was selected to the 40-man roster. On May 15, Devenski was placed on the 60-day injured list with a sprained right UCL. On June 6, Devenski 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 ...

, officially ending his 2021 season. Devenski registered an 8.59 ERA in 8 games for Arizona in 2021. On October 8, Devenski elected free agency. On October 25, 2021, Devenski re-signed with the Diamondbacks on a minor league contract. On August 26, 2022, Devenski was designated for assignment and became a free agent.

Philadelphia Phillies

On August 30, 2022, Devenski signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. In 2022 between the two teams, in the major leagues he was 2-1 with an 8.59 ERA in 14.2 innings in which he gave up 21 hits in 18 relief appearances.

Los Angeles Angels

On November 28, 2022, Devenski signed a one year minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Personal life

Devenski was raised in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. His father, Mike, owns a moving company. Amanda, his twin sister, is a teacher. While he was attending college, his family moved to Artesia, California. Devenski is often known to Astros fans by the knickname "

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

" after the new wave band of the 1980s.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devenski, Chris 1990 births Living people American League All-Stars Baseball players from Long Beach, California Major League Baseball pitchers Houston Astros players Arizona Diamondbacks players Philadelphia Phillies players Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball players Great Falls Voyagers players Kannapolis Intimidators players Lexington Legends players Quad Cities River Bandits players Lancaster JetHawks players Corpus Christi Hooks players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Golden West Rustlers baseball players