Ronald Kyle Bird (born April 12, 1993) 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He has played in

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) for the Texas Rangers and in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

Amateur career

Bird attended Clay High School in

Green Cove Springs, Florida Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is named after the portio ...

. Undrafted out of high school in 2011, Bird attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

for two years (2012 and 2013), before transferring to Division II

Flagler College Flagler College is a private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. It was founded in 1968 and offers 33 undergraduate majors and one master's program. It also has a campus in Tallahassee. History Founded in 1968, the campus compri ...

in St. Augustine, Florida, for his junior season in 2014. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

in the 35th round, 1,057th overall, 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 ...

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

After signing with Tampa Bay, Bird was assigned to the

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

Princeton Rays The Princeton Rays were a Minor League Baseball team in Princeton, West Virginia, operating as an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with several Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises, primarily the Tam ...

to make his professional debut in 2014. In 19

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 ...

, he posted a 1–0 record with a 4.19

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). He split the 2015 season between the Class A

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

and the Triple-A

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

. Through 33 games (1 with Durham), he accumulated 4–0 record with a 2.54 ERA and 71

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 ...

s in 70.1 innings. He played the 2016 season with both the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

and the Double-A

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

. He appeared in 68 innings across 43 games, earning a 3–2 record with a 2.28 ERA and 60 strikeouts. He split the 2017 season between Montgomery and Durham. In 54 games, he posted a 4–2 record with a 2.89 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 74.2 innings. He again played the 2018 season at both Double-A and Triple-A. He appeared in 43 games, making 6 starts, and accumulated a 3–3 record with a 2.39 ERA and 88 strikeouts across 74 innings. After the 2018 regular season, Bird pitched for the

Yaquis de Obregón The Yaquis de Obregón ( en, Obregón Yaquis) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The “Yaquis” are the only team in league history to have won three consecutive league championships ...

of the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

in winter ball. In 18 games with them, he went 1–0 with a 2.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 18 innings. The Rays added Bird to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season.

Texas Rangers

On December 21, 2018, Bird was traded to the Texas Rangers as part of a three team deal in which the Rangers also acquired Brock Burke, Yoel Espinal,

Eli White Elijah Thomas White (born June 26, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB for the Texas Rangers. Amateur career White attended Wren High School in Piedmo ...

, and $750,000 of international signing bonus pool space; the Rays acquired

Emilio Pagan Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio Piazza Memorial School, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (dis ...

, Rollie Lacy, and a competitive balance pick in the 2019 MLB draft (

Seth Johnson Seth Art Maurice Johnson (born 12 March 1979) is an English retired footballer. He spent his career at Crewe Alexandra, Derby County and Leeds United, and played one international for England in 2000. Club career Johnson attended Westcliff P ...

); and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

acquired

Jurickson Profar Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar (born February 20, 1993) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball infielder and outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padr ...

. Bird made the Rangers' 2019 Opening Day roster on March 28, 2019, and made his major league debut that afternoon versus the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

walking 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 o ...

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

, the only batter he faced. He split the season between the Rangers and the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. With Texas he went 0–0 with a 7.82 ERA innings, and with Nashville he went 5–1 with a 2.86 ERA in innings. On January 15, 2020, Bird was designated for assignment by the Rangers and outrighted to Triple-A a few days later. Bird did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league 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 became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

On November 26, 2020, it was announced that Bird had signed with the

. He made his NPB debut on June 14. In 33 appearances for Hiroshima, Bird pitched to a 4.57 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent after the season.

Seattle Mariners

On March 8, 2022, Bird signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

References

External links

Flagler Saints bio
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Klye 1993 births Living people People from Orange Park, Florida Baseball players from Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Florida State Seminoles baseball players Flagler Saints baseball players Princeton Rays players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Montgomery Biscuits players Durham Bulls players Nashville Sounds players Peoria Javelinas players Yaquis de Obregón players Tacoma Rainiers players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Hiroshima Toyo Carp players