Raymond Anthony Black (born June 26, 1990) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

in the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization. He previously 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

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and Brewers.

Career

Amateur career

Black 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 ...

during his senior year in high school. He recovered from the surgery and played

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 ...

at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

for the

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

from 2009 to 2011. He appeared in 30 games with Pittsburgh, finishing with a 10.95

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) with 41 strikeouts and 41 walks in 37 innings.

San Francisco Giants

Despite his college numbers, Black was drafted by the

in the seventh round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He signed with the Giants rather than return to Pittsburgh. He did not pitch in 2011 and before the 2012 season, Black suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The injury would cause him to miss both 2012 and 2013 while he recovered. Black finally made his professional debut in 2014 with the

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

and in August, he was promoted to the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

. He finished the year with a 3.57 ERA and 71 strikeouts in innings. After the season, the Giants assigned him to the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

. In 2015, he pitched for the

where he was 2–1 with a 2.88 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 25 innings, and in 2016, he played with the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

where he compiled a 1–4 record and 4.88 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched out of the bullpen. He spent most of 2017 rehabbing an elbow injury with his only action of the season being three rehab appearances in August. He began 2018 with Richmond and was called up to the majors for the first time on July 8, 2018.

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 31, 2019, the Giants traded Black and

Drew Pomeranz Thomas Andrew "Drew" Pomeranz (born November 22, 1988), nicknamed Big Smooth, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics ...

to the

for

Mauricio Dubón Mauricio Andre Dubón ( born July 19, 1994) is a Honduran professional baseball utility player for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Selected during the 26th round of the 2013 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox, Dubón made his ...

. Between San Francisco and Milwaukee in 2019, Black pitched to a combined 5.06 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 16.0 innings across 17 appearances. Black began the 2020 season on the injured list with a shoulder strain, and spent most of the season on the IL. He was activated in September and managed to throw 3 innings of 1 run ball in 3 appearances. On March 30, 2021, Black was outrighted off of the Brewers 40-man roster.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Ray 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Major League Baseball pitchers San Francisco Giants players category:Milwaukee Brewers players Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Scottsdale Scorpions players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Arizona League Giants players Sacramento River Cats players San Antonio Missions players