Edward Cory Kunz (born April 8, 1986) is an American former

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 ...

. He played in

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) for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Early life and amateur career

Kunz was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. He attended Parkrose High School, where he played football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and baseball. In 2006, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie Alle ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. He was a preseason

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n second-team in for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for ...

Professional career

New York Mets

On August 24, , the New York Mets signed Kunz after they selected him 42nd overall in the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fir ...

. Less than a year later, on August 3, , he was called up to the Major Leagues from the Double-A affiliate,

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mirab ...

, after having a 2.79

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. Comp ...

with 27 saves in 44 games. That day, in his Major League debut, he pitched a scoreless seventh inning. However, two weeks later, after struggling and the Mets' trade for Luis Ayala, he was demoted back to the minors. On November 5, 2010, Kunz was sent down to the minors to Triple-A Buffalo along with Jesús Feliciano and Raul Valdes. Along with them were Mike Hessman and

Omir Santos Omir Santos Rios (born April 29, 1981) is a former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Mets, the Detroit Tigers, and the Cleveland Indians and is currently the manager of the L ...

who then became free-agents after refusing their minor league assignment.

San Diego Padres

On March 29, 2011, Kunz was traded by the Mets to the Padres at the end of spring training for minor league first baseman Allan Dykstra. On March 20, 2013, Kunz was released by the Padres.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunz, Eddie Living people 1986 births New York Mets players Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Oregon State Beavers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Cyclones players Binghamton Mets players New Orleans Zephyrs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players San Antonio Missions players Tucson Padres players Parkrose High School alumni Falmouth Commodores players