Daniel Vincent Tillo (born June 13, 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 ...

who is a free agent. He was drafted by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

in the 3rd round 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 ...

Amateur career

Tillo attended

Sioux City North High School North High School (commonly North, North High, or NHS) is a public high school located in Sioux City, Iowa with an enrollment of approximately 1,500 students. The school is a part of the Sioux City School District and is one of three public high ...

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

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 ...

. As a junior in 2014, he pitched to a 6-0 record and a 0.98 ERA. Following his senior basketball season in 2015, he was named

Iowa Mr. Basketball Each year, the Iowa Mr. Basketball award is given to the male athlete chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Iowa in the United States. Awarded since 1981, winners were chosen by the Iowa Newspaper Association at ...

after averaging 24.5 point, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. During his senior baseball season, he went 5-1 with a 3.08 ERA while batting .369. Due to being uncertain on whether he wanted to pursue basketball or baseball at the collegiate level, he did not commit to a college for either sport until June of his senior year, when he ultimately decided to play

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 Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. After his senior year, he was drafted by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in the 39th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Tillo chose to honor his commitment to Kentucky, and not sign with the Twins. In 2016, his freshman year, he pitched only innings. Following the year, he transferred to

Iowa Western Community College Iowa Western Community College is a public community college in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was founded in 1967 and offers 84 programs in both vocational and technical areas as well as in liberal arts. It is also home to a flight school. Campus A ...

in order to be closer to home and to transition back into a

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 ...

. In 2017, his sophomore year and first year at Iowa Western, he went 5-1 with a 2.86 ERA, striking out 57 over 44 innings and nine games (five starts). After the season, he was drafted by the

in the third round of the

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

Tillo signed with the Royals and made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League Royals before being promoted to the Burlington Royals of the Rookie-level

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

. Over ten games (nine starts) between the two clubs, he pitched to a 3-2 record with a 4.42 ERA over innings. In 2018, he began the season with 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 Single–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 ...

before being promoted to the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

of the High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. Starting 26 total games between the two teams, Tillo went 4-6 with a 4.76 ERA, striking out 100 over innings. Tillo began the 2019 season back with Wilmington, and was promoted to the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The ...

of the Double–A

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 ...

in July, finishing the season there. Over 29 games (23 starts) for the season, he compiled an 8-9 record with a 3.72 ERA, striking out 85 over innings. Following the season, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros. On October 10, he was selected for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

in the

2019 WBSC Premier 12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

. In the tournament, he pitched to a 2.08 ERA in three relief appearances covering innings in which he struck out eight batters. Tillo did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In July, 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 ...

. On November 20, 2020, he was added to the 40-man roster. On May 3, 2021, Tillo was placed on the 60-day injured list as he continued to recover. He was activated in late June and began rehabbing. On August 9, his rehab ended and he was assigned to Northwest Arkansas. He pitched 29 innings in which he went 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA and 27 strikeouts. On April 7, 2022, Tillo was designated for assignment by the Royals to make room on the 40-man roster for

Bobby Witt Jr. Robert Andrew Witt Jr. (born June 14, 2000) is an American professional baseball shortstop and third baseman for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected second overall by the Royals in the 2019 MLB draft and made ...

Tillo was released by the Royals organization on April 14. Tillo had not appeared in a major league game at the time of his release.

San Francisco Giants

On April 17, 2022, Tillo signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. He was assigned to the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

of the Triple-A

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 ...

. Tillo did not immediately appear for Sacramento due to an undisclosed injury, and began a rehab assignment with the rookie–level

Arizona Complex League Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

on July 21. He was activated from the injured list on August 23 and assigned to the High–A Eugene Emeralds. Following a short stint with Eugene, Tillo would make 9 appearances split between the Double–A Richmond Flying Squirrels and Sacramento to close out the year. Tillo returned to Triple–A Sacramento to begin the 2023 season. In 17 appearances (4 starts), he struggled to a 1–6 and 9.59 ERA with 17 strikeouts in innings pitched. He was released by the Giants organization on June 11, 2023.

Personal life

Tillo is an avid baseball card collector and collects rare cards of himself.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillo, Daniel 1996 births Living people Arizona League Royals players Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Iowa Burlington Royals players Iowa Western Reivers baseball players Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Lexington Legends players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Sportspeople from Sioux City, Iowa Surprise Saguaros players United States national baseball team players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players North High School (Sioux City, Iowa) alumni