Glenn David Otto Jr. (born March 11, 1996) 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 Texas Rangers of

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). He made his MLB debut in 2021.

Amateur career

Otto attended Concordia Lutheran High School in

Tomball, Texas Tomball ( ) is a city in Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The population was 12,341 at the 2020 U.S. census. In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball for local congressman Thomas Henry Ba ...

. Undrafted out of high school in 2014, he attended

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

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 Rice Owls. Otto was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the fifth round of 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 signed for a $320,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

Professional career

New York Yankees

Otto split his professional debut season in 2017 between the Gulf Coast Yankees and Staten Island Yankees, going a combined 3–0 with a 1.35 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 20 innings. He spent the 2018 season with the Charleston RiverDogs, recording a 1–1 record with a 3.48 ERA and 8 strikeouts over innings pitched. Otto was limited in the 2018 season as he dealt with a blood clot in his shoulder. Otto split 2019 between the GCL Yankees and Tampa Tarpons, compiling a 3–3 record with a 3.23 ERA and 74 strikeouts over innings. Following the 2019 season, Otto played in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros. Otto did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of 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 identif ...

. He opened 2021 with the Somerset Patriots, going 6–3 with a 3.17 ERA and 103 strikeouts over innings. After being promoted to the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

on July 13, he posted a 1–0 record with a 4.35 ERA and 12 strikeouts over innings.

Texas Rangers

On July 29, 2021, Otto, along with

Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with the Atlant ...

Ezequiel Durán Ezequiel Alberto Durán (born May 22, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. Career New York Yankees Durán signed with the New York Yankees as ...

, and

Trevor Hauver Below are select minor league players and the rosters of the minor league affiliates of the Texas Rangers: Players Dane Acker Dane Harrison Acker (born April 1, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organizatio ...

were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for

Joey Gallo Joseph Nicholas Gallo (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Do ...

and

Joely Rodríguez Joely Rodríguez Sánchez (born November 14, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, New York Yanke ...

. He was assigned to the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

of the

Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

following the trade, going 2–1 with a 2.70 ERA and 19 strikeouts over 20 innings. On August 27, Texas selected Otto's contract and promoted him to the major leagues to make his MLB debut that night versus 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 ...

. In his debut, he threw five scoreless innings while recording seven strikeouts. Over six games for Texas in 2021, Otto posted a record of 0–3, a 9.26 ERA, and 28 strikeouts over innings. After opening the 2022 season with 3 starts for Round Rock, Otto spent the rest of the season with Texas, going 7–10 with a 4.64 ERA and 107 strikeouts over innings.

References

External links

Rice Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Glenn 1996 births Living people People from Spring, Texas Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Rice Owls baseball players Gulf Coast Yankees players Staten Island Yankees players Charleston RiverDogs players Tampa Tarpons players Surprise Saguaros players Somerset Patriots players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Round Rock Express players