Justin Michael Slaten (born September 15, 1997) 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

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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). Slaten made his MLB debut in 2024.

Biography

Amateur

Slaten attended Hallsville High School in Hallsville, Texas. As a senior, Slaten went 6–5 with a 1.49

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 105 strikeouts in 75

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Undrafted out of high school, he attended The

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

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 New Mexico Lobos. In his freshman season of 2017, Slaten went 2–2 with a 3.71 ERA and 27 strikeouts over innings. He struggled in his sophomore of 2018 to a 2–9 record with a 7.02 ERA over innings. During the summer of 2018, Slaten played for the Eau Claire Express of the Northwoods League, going 7–1 with a 1.58 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 57 innings. In his junior season of 2019, Slaten went 5–5 with a 2.51 ERA and 98 strikeouts over innings.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers selected Slaten in the third round of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

and he signed with them. Slaten split his professional debut season of 2019 between the

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed ...

of the Rookie-level Arizona League and the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

of the Low–A Northwest League, going a combined 0–2 with a 6.06 ERA and 22 strikeouts over innings. He did not play 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 spent the 2021 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A East, going 4–8 with a 6.01 ERA and 110 strikeouts over innings. Slaten spent the 2022 season with the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, going 1–6 with a 6.93 ERA and 64 strikeouts over innings. Slaten returned to Frisco to open the 2023 season, going 4–3 with a 3.16 ERA and 76 strikeouts over innings. He was promoted 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

Pacific Coast League 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 (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

in September and posted a 1–0 record with a 1.08 ERA over innings. Following the 2023 season, Slaten played for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.

Boston Red Sox

On December 6, 2023, 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 ...

chose Slaten with the seventh selection in the Rule 5 draft, and traded him to the

in exchange for minor-league left-handed pitcher Ryan Ammons and cash considerations. Slaten was added to Boston's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster, and made his major-league debut on March 30.

References

External links