Joseph Cliff Gerber (born May 3, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners.

Amateur career

Gerber graduated from Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota in 2015. He went undrafted in the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

out of high school and enrolled at the University of Illinois where he played college baseball for the Fighting Illini. As a freshman at Illinois in 2016, Gerber pitched only six innings, compiling a 7.50 ERA. In 2017, his sophomore season, he went 2–1 with a 4.36 ERA in 33 relief innings pitched, striking out 43. In 2018, as a junior, he went 1–1 with a 3.14 ERA in relief innings along with compiling 14 saves, tying the Illinois single-season record, earning a spot on the All-Big Ten Third Team. After his junior year, Gerber was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the eighth round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Gerber signed with Seattle and made his professional debut with the Everett AquaSox of the Class A Short Season Northwest League before being promoted to the Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League in July. In relief innings between the two clubs, he went 1–0 with a 2.10 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Gerber began the 2019 season with the Modesto Nuts of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

, earning All-Star honors. He was promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League in June, and finished the season there. Over relief innings pitched between the two clubs, Gerber went 1–4 with a 2.59 ERA, striking out 69 and compiling a .215 batting average against. On August 4, 2020, Gerber made his MLB debut against the Los Angeles Angels, pitching one scoreless inning. He ended the 2020 season with a 1–1 record and a 4.02 ERA, striking out six batters over innings. Gerber began the 2021 season on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

and underwent back surgery in July, forcing him to miss the whole year. He missed the beginning of the 2022 season due to the injury and was ultimately designated for assignment on June 18, 2022. He was released on June 22.

New York Yankees

Gerber signed with the New York Yankees on July 25, 2022. On August 3, he was assigned to the

Florida Complex League Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional basebal ...

, the Yankees minor league rookie level affiliate.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Joey 1997 births Living people Arizona Complex League Mariners players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Minnesota Clinton LumberKings players Everett AquaSox players Illinois Fighting Illini baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Modesto Nuts players People from Maple Grove, Minnesota Seattle Mariners players Mankato MoonDogs players