Drey Matthew Jameson (born August 17, 1997) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

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). Born and raised in

Greenfield, Indiana Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Indiana, United States, and a part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The population was 20,602 at the 2010 census, and an estimated 23,006 in 2019. It lies in Center Township. ...

, Jameson played two years of

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 p ...

at Ball State University. The Diamondbacks selected him in the first 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 played in their minor league system before making his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Jameson attended

Greenfield-Central High School Greenfield-Central High School is a secondary school (grades 9-12) located in the city of Greenfield, Indiana. Under the management of the Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation. It had 1,363 students in 2009–2010. The high sch ...

. In 2017, his senior year, he went 6–1 with a 0.65 ERA. He went unselected in 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 ...

and thus enrolled at Ball State University where he played

for the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Uni ...

. In 2018, Jameson's freshman season at Ball State, he went 7–2 with a 3.88 ERA over 18 games (12 starts). He was awarded

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC) Freshman Pitcher of the Year. As a sophomore in 2019, he started 16 games and pitched to a 6–3 record with a 3.24 ERA and 146 strikeouts over innings and was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year.

Professional career

The

selected Jameson in the first round, with the 34th overall pick, of the

2019 Major League Baseball 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 ...

. He signed for $1.4 million and was assigned to the

Hillsboro Hops The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. ...

of the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. Over innings, he gave up eight earned runs, 14 hits, and nine walks, striking out 12. He 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 identi ...

. To begin the 2021 season, he returned to Hillsboro, now members of the

High-A West The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. After starting 12 games and pitching to a 2–4 record with a 3.92 ERA and 77 strikeouts over innings, he was promoted to the

Amarillo Sod Poodles The Amarillo Sod Poodles, nicknamed the Soddies, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Amarillo, Texas, and play their home games at Hodgetown in downtown ...

of the

Double-A Central 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 late July. Over eight starts with Amarillo, Jameson went 3–2 with a 4.08 ERA and 68 strikeouts over innings. Jameson returned to Amarillo to begin the 2022 season. After posting a 2.41 ERA over innings, he was promoted to the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Over 21 starts with Reno, Jameson went 5–12 with a 6.95 ERA and 109 strikeouts over 114 innings. On September 15, 2022, the Diamondbacks selected Jameson's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night as Arizona's starting pitcher versus the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, earning the win after throwing seven scoreless innings in which he allowed no runs, one walk, and two hits in a 4-0 Diamondbacks win. In 2023, Jameson posted a 3.32 ERA across 15 appearances for the Diamondbacks before he was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation on July 7, 2023. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list the following day. On September 17, it was announced that Jameson would undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his season and likely ruling him out for the entirety of the 2024 season.

References

External links

Ball State Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jameson, Drey 1997 births Living people Amarillo Sod Poodles players Arizona Diamondbacks players Ball State Cardinals baseball players Baseball players from Indiana Hillsboro Hops players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Greenfield, Indiana Reno Aces players Sportspeople from the Indianapolis metropolitan area