Jake Owen Cousins (born July 14, 1994) 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 ...

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 was drafted by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in the 20th 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 ...

. He has previously played in MLB for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Amateur career

Cousins grew up St. Charles, Illinois, and attended

Wheaton Academy Wheaton Academy (WA) is a private, Christian, co-educational high school in West Chicago, Illinois, which was established as part of the Illinois Institute by a group of evangelical abolitionists in 1853. The Illinois Institute was reorganized int ...

. He attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

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 ...

for the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are se ...

for four seasons. As a senior, Cousins had a 7–2

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 3.15

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 was named first team All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

. His all-time collegiate career record was 20–7 with a 2.91 ERA. In 2015, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

Professional career

Washington Nationals

Cousins was selected in the 20th round, 613th overall, of the

by the

. He made his professional debut with the

GCL Nationals The Florida Complex League Nationals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Washington Nationals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Nationals. The ...

in 2017, and also played with the Low-A

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) ...

, accumulating a 2–2 record and 2.48 ERA in 18 appearances. He only played in 7 games for the GCL Nationals in 2018, posting a 4.09 ERA in 11.0 innings of work. On March 27, 2019, Cousins was released after suffering an injury.

Schaumburg Boomers

On May 24, 2019, Cousins signed with the

Schaumburg Boomers The Schaumburg Boomers are a professional baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois that began play in the independent Frontier League in 2012. The team plays its home games at Wintrust Field. The Boomers replaced the now defunct Schaumburg Fly ...

of the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. Cousins made 15 relief appearances for the Boomers and had a stellar 0.47 ERA with 18 strikeouts.

Milwaukee Brewers

Cousins's performance caught the attention of the

organization, who purchased his contract from Schaumburg on July 17, 2019. After signing with the Brewers, Cousins was assigned to the Arizona League Brewers Blue before being promoted to the Single–A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton, Wisconsin, Appleton in the Fox ...

. In 14 games between the AZL Brewers and Wisconsin, Cousins posted a cumulative 3–0 record and 1.91 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled, he returned to independent baseball with permission from the Brewers and signed with the

Chicago Dogs The Chicago Dogs are an independent professional baseball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. They began play in 2018 and p ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

on July 19, 2020. Cousins made 15 appearances with Chicago and finished the season with a 3.38 ERA. He began the 2021 season with the Double-A

Biloxi Shuckers The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in reference to the city's oyster industry and seafood heri ...

and was promoted to the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

after eight appearances. On June 21, 2021, Cousins was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Cousins had logged a 2.55 ERA in 16 games between Biloxi and Nashville prior to his call-up. He made his MLB debut that day, pitching two scoreless innings of relief against 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 f ...

. In the game, he notched his first career strikeout, punching out Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt, one of 5 K's on the night. On July 7, Cousins earned his first career win after pitching a scoreless inning in relief against 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 ...

. Cousins did not allow an earned run until his 18th pitching appearance. On June 2, 2022, Cousins was placed on the 60-day injured list with an

ulnar collateral ligament Ulnar collateral ligament (or UCL), may refer to: * Ulnar carpal collateral ligament * Ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspec ...

injury in his right elbow. He had turned down

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 received a platelet-rich plasma injection a few weeks earlier. He was activated off of the injured list on August 23 and optioned to Triple–A Nashville. Cousins was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to begin the 2023 season. In 9 games for Milwaukee, he worked to a 4.82 ERA with 7 strikeouts in innings of work.

Houston Astros

On July 31, 2023, Cousins was claimed off waivers by the

Personal life

Cousins married his high school sweetheart Kelsey Ridderhoff on December 16, 2017, in Beach Park, Illinois. Jake is a cousin of current

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

quarterback

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...

. Jake grew up a fan of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and attended high school at

West Chicago West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,086 at the 2010 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John B. Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad ...

, Illinois.

References

External links

Penn Quakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Jake 1994 births Living people Arizona Complex League Brewers players Arizona League Brewers players Auburn Doubledays players Biloxi Shuckers players Chicago Dogs players Gulf Coast Nationals players Harwich Mariners players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players Newport Gulls players Penn Quakers baseball players Schaumburg Boomers players Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players