Daniel Allen Winkler (born February 2, 1990) 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 ...

who is a free agent. He previously 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

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Career

Winkler attended St. Anthony High School in Effingham, Illinois. He then attended

Parkland College Parkland College is a public community college in Champaign, Illinois. It is part of the Illinois Community College System serving Community College District 505 which includes parts of Coles, Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Iroquoi ...

and was drafted by the

in the 43rd round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and instead transferred to the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF). In 2011, his junior season, he went 3-4 with a 4.70 ERA in 18 games.

Colorado Rockies

Winkler was then drafted by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the 20th round 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 ...

and signed. Winkler made his professional debut for the

Casper Ghosts Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

, going 4–3 in 12 starts with a 3.92

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 65 strikeouts over innings. He spent the 2012 season with the Asheville Tourists. He started 25 games, going 11–10 with a 4.46 ERA and 136 strikeouts in innings. Winkler started the 2013 season with the Modesto Nuts. On June 25, 2013 he combined with two relievers to pitch 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 ...

. He was promoted to the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

near the end of the season. Overall, he was 13–7 with a 2.98 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 157 innings. The 175 strikeouts led all minor league players. He returned to Tulsa to start the 2014 season. He 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 ...

to repair the

ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspect of the elbow uniting the distal aspect of the humerus to the proximal aspect of the ulna. Structure It consists of two portion ...

in June 2014.

Atlanta Braves

On December 11, 2014, the

selected Winkler during the Rule 5 Draft. He was activated from the disabled list in September 2015. Winkler debuted on September 21, striking out two of the three

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 ...

batters he faced. Winkler fractured his elbow on April 10, 2016, while facing the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk. He missed the remainder of the 2016 season, and as a result, resolved to adjust his mechanics to lessen stress on his elbow. Winkler was reactivated in August 2017, but due to injury had not yet fulfilled the major league service time requirement mandated of Rule 5 draftees. In January 2018, the Braves signed Winkler to a one-year contract worth $610,000. For the 2018 season, Winkler posted an ERA of 3.43 in 69 games. He struck out 69 in innings.

San Francisco Giants

On July 31, 2019, Winkler was traded to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

along with

Tristan Beck Tristan Robert Beck (born June 24, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the San Francisco Giants organization. He played college baseball for the Stanford Cardinal. The Atlanta Braves selected Beck in the fourth round of the 2018 ...

in exchange for

Mark Melancon Mark David Melancon ( ; born March 28, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pi ...

. He was designated for assignment the next day. He became a free agent after the season.

Chicago Cubs

On December 6, 2019, Winkler signed a split major league contract worth $750,000 with the

. In 2020 for Chicago, Winkler pitched to a 2.95 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched across 18 appearances. In 47 games in 2021 for the Cubs, Winkler posted a 5.22 ERA with 40 strikeouts. On August 17, 2021, Winkler was designated for assignment by the Cubs. On August 20, Winkler was released by the Cubs.

Texas Rangers

On March 14, 2022, Winkler signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He opted out of his deal and became a free agent on June 1, 2022.

Chicago White Sox

On June 16, 2022, Winkler signed a minor league deal with 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 ...

. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Daniel 1990 births Living people People from Effingham, Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Major League Baseball pitchers Atlanta Braves players Chicago Cubs players Parkland Cobras baseball players UCF Knights baseball players Casper Ghosts players Asheville Tourists players Modesto Nuts players Tulsa Drillers players Peoria Javelinas players Rome Braves players Florida Fire Frogs players Gwinnett Braves players Gwinnett Stripers players Sacramento River Cats players Round Rock Express players Rochester Honkers players