David John Welch (born 2 June 1983, in Sydney) is an Australian professional baseball

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 who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

In 2005, he was drafted by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in the 20th round of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

. He played for the Rookie-League Helena Brewers. He was promoted to the Class-A

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dir ...

in 2006, where he was tied for the

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 ...

lead with one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. He was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

on 2 June with back spasms and was reinstated on 15 June. Welch's 2007 season was spent with the Class-A Advanced Brevard County Manatees where he allowed the fewest baserunners per game by a starter in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

(FSL). He recorded the ninth-lowest

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

(ERA) with a 3.43 clip in the FSL. He allowed the second-fewest walks per nine innings and fifth-best ERA as a starter in the FSL. He went 6–7 with a 3.43 ERA in 29 games, 20 starts, and led the team in innings pitched with 120 innings. He was placed on the disabled list on 13 April with a concussion and was reinstated on 23 April. Welch spent the 2008 season with the Double-A Huntsville Stars. He went 11–4 with a 3.90 ERA in 26 games, all starts. He had one

. Welch played all of the 2009 season in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

. He was released by the Brewers during spring training 2010.

Sydney Blue Sox

Welch was an integral part of the Sydney rotation along with Chris Oxspring. He finished the regular season with a league best 5–0 record with a 1.44 ERA. Welch 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 ...

against the

Adelaide Bite The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaid ...

in game one of the preliminary final series, the first in Australian Baseball League history. David was expected to resign either in the US, Japan or

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

during 2011, but on 18 July 2011 announced his retirement from professional baseball.

International career

In 2009, he was selected to play in the

2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through ...

and posted an Australian record 13

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 in only 7 innings against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

.19 September 2009
IBAF Notes on 10th Day of Baseball World Cup
''International Baseball Federation''. Accessed 21 September 2009.

References

External links

MiLB.com player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, David 1983 births Living people Algodoneros de Guasave players Australian expatriate baseball players in Mexico Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball pitchers Brevard County Manatees players Diablos Rojos del México players Helena Brewers players Huntsville Stars players Mexican League baseball pitchers Peoria Javelinas players Sioux City Explorers players Baseball players from Sydney Sydney Blue Sox players Texarkana Bulldogs baseball players West Virginia Power players Sportsmen from New South Wales