Derek John West (born December 2, 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 ...

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 ...

organization.

Career

West attended University High School in Orange City, Florida. As a junior, he tore his hamstring playing for the school's basketball team, and was told that he would not play baseball again; the pain went away after eight weeks and he was able to continue playing. He transferred to Trinity Christian Academy in

Deltona, Florida Deltona is a city in central Florida and the most populous city in Volusia County. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Monroe along the St. Johns River in central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 93,692. The city ...

, in 2014. His fastball reached as a senior. He committed to attend the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

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 ...

for the Pittsburgh Panthers. West missed his freshman year due to recovery from

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 ...

and his sophomore year due to surgery to repair his

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee. In 2018, he had a 3.24

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 47

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 50

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 ...

. 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 ...

selected West in the 28th round of the

2018 MLB draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

. He opted not to sign so that he could return to Pittsburgh for his senior year. In 2019, he had a 3.82 ERA and 82 strikeouts in innings. The

selected West in the 14th round of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

, and he signed. While he played for the Asheville Tourists in 2022, West could pitch at .

International career

West is of Dutch descent through his maternal grandparents. He was named to the Netherlands national baseball team for the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Derek Living people 1996 births People from Orange City, Florida Baseball players from Volusia County, Florida Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Wareham Gatemen players Tri-City ValleyCats players Florida Complex League Astros players Asheville Tourists players Corpus Christi Hooks players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players American people of Dutch descent Dutch people of American descent 2023 World Baseball Classic players