Dylan Martin Dodd (born June 6, 1998) is an American professional

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 ...

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

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 ...

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).

Early life and amateur career

Dylan Dodd was born to parents Mark and Thea Dodd. Mark coached Dylan's high school baseball and football teams. Dodd attended

Bismarck Henning High School Bismarck Henning High School or BHHS is a high school located in Bismarck, Illinois, and is currently hosting students from Rossville, Illinois, Rossville, Alvin, Illinois, Alvin, Bismarck, Illinois, Bismarck, Henning, Illinois, Henning, and parts ...

Bismarck, Illinois Bismarck is a village in Newell Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, Newell Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 57 ...

, and played

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 ...

Kankakee Community College Kankakee Community College (KCC) is a public community college in Kankakee, Illinois. The main campus is located on the southern border of the city of Kankakee and spans along the banks of the Kankakee River. KCC is accredited by the Commissi ...

and

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

. In 2021, he was named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year. Dodd was drafted by the

in the third round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

, and was the first athlete in his high school's history to be selected in the MLB draft. Dodd joined the Braves after agreeing to a $125,000 signing bonus.

Professional career

Dodd spent his first professional season in 2021 with the Augusta GreenJackets and

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

. He started 2022 with Rome before being promoted to the Mississippi Braves and ended the year with the Gwinnett Stripers. Before the 2023 regular season began, Dodd participated in spring training and competed alongside

Jared Shuster Jared Craig Shuster (born August 3, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Wake Forest University. The Atlanta Braves selected him in the first ro ...

for the fifth spot in the

' starting rotation. On March 26, 2023, after

Kyle Wright Kyle Wright (born October 18, 1984) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and was also a member of the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at the Universi ...

was placed on the injured list, it was announced that both Dodd and Shuster had made the Opening Day roster and would pitch out of the rotation for the time being. On April 3, Dodd was officially selected to the 40-man roster. Dodd faced the St. Louis Cardinals in his major league debut the next day. He recorded a victory and three strikeouts while yielding one earned run on six hits in five innings. On April 9, 2023, Dodd allowed ten hits and seven earned runs, in just under five innings, in his first major league loss. Subsequently, on April 11, Dodd was optioned to the Gwinnett Stripers, as Wright was reinstated from the injured list. In 7 starts for Atlanta in his rookie campaign, he recorded a 7.60 ERA with 15 strikeouts across innings of work. Dodd was optioned to Triple–A Gwinnett to begin the 2024 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Dylan Living people 1998 births Atlanta Braves players Augusta GreenJackets players Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Baseball players from DuPage County, Illinois Florida Complex League Braves players Gwinnett Stripers players Major League Baseball pitchers Mississippi Braves players People from Elk Grove Village, Illinois Rome Braves players Southeast Missouri State Redhawks baseball players