Karsten E. Whitson (born August 25, 1991) is an American

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 p ...

coach and former

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 ...

. He is currently the pitching coach at the

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

. Whitson played college baseball at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 2011 to 2014 for head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. He played professionally from 2014 to 2016. A first round pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft out of high school, Whitson opted to attend college, and was considered a top prospect in the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

until his shoulder surgery. Whitson 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 37th round of the 2013 draft and by 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 eigh ...

in the 11th round of the

2014 MLB 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 ...

Career

Whitson attended

Chipley High School Chipley High School is a public high school located at 1545 Brickyard Road in Chipley, Florida. Previously, the school was located on 2nd Street until 2000, when the present school was built on Brickyard Road. Spanish Trail Playhouse is located th ...

in Chipley, Florida. As a senior, Whitson pitched to a 0.62

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 recorded 123 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched. '' Baseball America'' ranked Whitson the third best high school prospect in the United States. He played in the Aflac

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

game and pitched in the Pan American Junior Baseball Championship. The

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

selected Whitson in the first round, with the ninth overall selection, of the

2010 Major League Baseball draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pi ...

. Despite the Padres offering Whitson a signing bonus of $2.1 million, he opted not to sign, surprising the Padres front office. Whitson reportedly asked for $2.7 million, but stated that he felt he was not ready for the challenge of minor league baseball. Whitson enrolled at the

, and joined the Florida Gators baseball team, pitching in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

. As a freshman, Whitson pitched to an 8–1

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 matc ...

, with a 2.40 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 97 innings. He was named a Freshman

n by ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...

''. Whitson pitched to a 4–0 with a 3.51 ERA in 2012 as a sophomore. After the 2012 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He missed the entire 2013 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, which was performed by Dr. James Andrews. His labrum and

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

were undamaged. The

selected Whitson in the 37th round, with the 1,126th overall selection, in the

. Whitson did not sign with the Nationals, returning to college for his senior year. Whitson had a 3.86 ERA with the Gators in 2014, making nine starts and five relief appearances. The

selected Whitson in the 11th round of the

. He signed on June 20. He pitched for the

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...

of the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

in 2014.

Personal

Whitson's parents both graduated from the University of Florida.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitson, Karsten 1991 births Living people People from Chipley, Florida Baseball players from Florida Baseball pitchers Florida Gators baseball players Lowell Spinners players Orleans Firebirds players Pensacola State Pirates baseball coaches South Florida Bulls baseball coaches