Jared Tyler Koenig (born January 24, 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 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 ...

who is currently a free agent.

Amateur career

Koenig grew up in Aptos, California and attended

Aptos High School Aptos High School is a comprehensive secondary school in Aptos, California, USA in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Aptos High serves the communities of Rio Del Mar, Corralitos, Seacliff, Seascape, La Selva Beach, Buena Vista and Wats ...

. Koenig began his college baseball career at

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Co ...

. He was selected in the 35th round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, but was not offered a contract by the team along with other late-round picks after signing first rounder

Carlos Rodón Carlos Antonio Rodón (born December 10, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played MLB for the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. Rodón is a two- ...

to an above-slot signing bonus. After his sophomore season Koenig transferred to Old Dominion. Koenig pitched one season at Old Dominion before transferring to Cal State Monterey Bay for his senior season.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be di ...

, Koenig signed Monterey Amberjacks of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Pecos League Pecos may refer to: Places * Pecos River, rises near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States * Pecos, Texas, a city in Reeves County, Texas, United States * Pecos County, Texas, named for the Pecos River ** Pecos Spring, a spring * Pecos, New Mexico, ...

prior to the start of the 2017 season. He later pitched for Salina Stockade

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 ...

before being traded to

San Rafael Pacifics The San Rafael Pacifics are a professional baseball team based in San Rafael, California, United States. They play in the Pecos League, an independent baseball league which is not affiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball. Prior to joining ...

of the

Pacific Association The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs was an independent baseball league based in Northern California. The league was founded in 2013 by four former North American League teams. History During the initial season, two Hawaii-b ...

. Koenig also played for the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers of the

United Shore Professional Baseball League The United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) is an independent baseball league in suburban Metro Detroit, Michigan, United States, started in May 2016. Each team in the USPBL plays a 42-game regular season schedule from May through Septe ...

during the 2017 season. He returned to San Rafael in 2018 and was named the Pacific Association Pitcher of the Year after posting a 11-1 record with 3.54 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 16 starts. Koenig pitched for the

Lake Erie Crushers The Lake Erie Crushers are a professional baseball team based in Avon, Ohio, a city near the southern shore of Lake Erie. They are members of the West Division of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league which is not affiliated with Ma ...

of the

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 ...

in 2019 and went 7-2 with a 2.24 ERA and 133 strikeouts in innings pitched. Following the season, he signed to play for the Auckland Tuatara in the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...

. While pitching for Auckland Koenig was noticed by Dan Betreen, an international scout for the Oakland Athletics.

Oakland Athletics

Koenig signed a minor league contract with the Athletics on December 21, 2019. 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 identi ...

. Koenig trained with his younger brother, a player at

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

, until taking part in Oakland's fall instructional league. He spent the 2021 with the Double-A

Midland RockHounds The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, w ...

and was named the

Double-A Central 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 ...

Pitcher of the Year after going 7-5 with a 3.26 ERA and 100 strikeouts in innings pitched. Koenig was assigned to the Triple-A

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada ...

at the start of the 2022 season. On June 8, Koenig was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. That same day, Koenig would make his

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), ...

debut vs. the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. In the second inning, he earned his first MLB strikeout on William Contreras. Despite pitching four innings of one run ball, the defending

2021 World Series The 2021 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2021 season. The 117th World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion H ...

champions would rally in the fifth, earning Koenig the loss. Koenig’s third career start for the Oakland Athletics came on June 19, vs the Kansas City Royals where he would pitch 5 ⅔ innings of scoreless ball, earning him his first MLB win. He was non tendered and became a free agent on November 18, 2022.

References

External links

Central Arizona Vaqueros bioOld Dominion Monarchs bioCal State Monterey Bay Otters bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenig, Jared 1994 births Living people Baseball players from San Jose, California Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Athletics players Central Arizona Vaqueros baseball players Old Dominion Monarchs baseball players Cal State Monterey Bay Otters baseball players San Rafael Pacifics players Auckland Tuatara players Lake Erie Crushers players Midland RockHounds players Las Vegas Aviators players Expatriate baseball players in New Zealand