Kyle S. Lotzkar (born October 24, 1989) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional baseball

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 ...

. Lotzkar has also competed for the

Canadian national baseball team The Canada national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada. Their manager is Ernie Whitt, a former Major League Baseball catcher for the Toronto ...

Career

Amateur career

Lotzkar attended

South Delta Secondary School South Delta Secondary (SDSS) is a public High school#Canada, high school in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. There are approximately 1,500 students enrolled in each grade 8 through 12 (as of 2019/2020). Graduation rates in the years 2005 to ...

Delta, British Columbia Delta is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, as part of Greater Vancouver. Located on the Fraser Lowland south of Fraser River's south arm, it is bordered by the city of Richmond on the Lulu Island to the north, N ...

. He played youth baseball for the

Langley Blaze The Langley Blaze are a youth baseball team located in the city of Langley, British Columbia. The Langley Blaze was founded in 2001 by Doug Mathieson, a former right-handed pitcher who played in the MLB Minor Leagues for seven years. The Blaze's ...

of the

British Columbia Premier Baseball League The British Columbia Premier Baseball League, commonly referred to as the BCPBL or the PBL, is a competitive youth baseball league consisting of 13 teams located throughout British Columbia, Canada. Over the years, the BCPBL has served as a tal ...

Professional career

The

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

selected Lotzkar in the supplemental first round, with the 53rd overall selection, of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

. The Reds signed Lotzkar to a contract with a $600,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut with the

Gulf Coast League Reds GU, Gu, or gu may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Gu (instrument), Chinese drums ** Bangu (drum) () or Gu (), a Chinese "flowerpot" drum * ''Global Underground'', an electronic dance music compilation series Other media * GU Comics, an ...

of the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lo ...

and

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League in 2007. In 2008, he pitched for the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In 2 ...

of the Class-A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 2008. He fractured his elbow in 2008. As a result, Lotzkar had

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 ...

. He missed the 2009 season, and only appeared in twelve games in 2010 for Cincinnati's Rookie-level affiliates. He pitched for Dayton in 2011, rated as the 10th best prospect in the Reds' organization by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. Lotzkar was added to the Reds' 40 man roster after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Prior to the 2012 season, ''Baseball America'' rated Lotzkar the 30th best prospect in the Reds' organization. He was named to appear in the 2012

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. Lotzkar was designated for assignment by the Reds on September 16, 2013. He was released on September 24, 2013. In October 23, Lotzkar signed with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers released him in June 2015.

International career

Lotzkar played for the

. In 2011, he participated in the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

, winning the bronze medal, and the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, winning the gold medal. He also competed for the Canadian Junior National Team in 2007 and was on Canada's provisional roster for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

, but did not make the final roster.

Pitching style

Lotzkar throws four-seam and

two-seam fastball A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on t ...

s (92–95 mph), a

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

, and a

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

. In the minors, he has had high

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

(4.2) and

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

(10.6) rates.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotzkar, Kyle 1989 births Living people Arizona League Reds players Bakersfield Blaze players Baseball pitchers Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Billings Mustangs players Canada national baseball team players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Dayton Dragons players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Reds players Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pensacola Blue Wahoos players People from Delta, British Columbia Winnipeg Goldeyes players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games