Steven Chandler Okert (born July 9, 1991) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

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). He previously played in 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 ...

Career

Draft and minor leagues

Okert graduated from

Rowlett High School Rowlett High School is a public secondary school located in Rowlett, Texas (USA). Rowlett High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The school opened in the fall of 1996 with Marlene H ...

Rowlett, Texas Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas and Rockwall counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. The total population estimate is 73,270 in 2021. It is a growing, upscale community with nearly $1.5 billion in dev ...

. Okert was drafted by 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 ...

in the 43rd round 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 pic ...

out of

Grayson County College Grayson College is a public community college in Grayson County, Texas. The main campus is in Denison and it has branch campuses in Denison (west extension, at the site of the old Perrin Air Force Base) and Van Alstyne (south campus). Histo ...

, but did not sign and returned to Grayson. He was then drafted by the Brewers again in the 33rd round of the 2011 Draft, but again did not sign and transferred to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. In his lone season for the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign, ...

, he appeared in 30 games with five starts, going 9–8 with a 3.07

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 78 strikeouts. Okert was then drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

2012 Major League Baseball Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

. He made his professional debut that season for the Arizona League Giants and also played for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. He had a 2.20 ERA in innings. Okert played the 2013 season with the Augusta GreenJackets, recording a 2.97 ERA with 59 strikeouts in innings. He started 2014 with the San Jose Giants. After recording a 1.53 ERA, 19 saves and 54 strikeouts in innings, he was promoted to the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels. The Giants added him to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season.

San Francisco Giants

Okert was called up to the

on April 19, 2016. Okert made his major league debut later that day against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He pitched 2 scoreless innings, getting a batter to ground into a double play and recorded his first two major league strikeouts. Okert struck out in his first MLB at-bat, coming against left-handed relief pitcher

Adam Liberatore Adam Joseph Liberatore (born May 12, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Career Amateur Liberatore is of Italian descent and attended Quigley Catholi ...

of the Dodgers. In 16 games, Okert pitched 14 innings, recording 14 strikeouts with a 3.21 ERA. Okert started the 2017 season with Triple-A Sacramento, but was called up to the Giants in April. On May 3, 2017, Okert recorded his first major league win, pitching 1 innings of scoreless relief in an extra-inning victory over the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. Okert made 44 relief appearances and pitched 27 innings for the Giants during the 2017 season. In 10 appearances for the Giants in 2018, Okert logged a 1.23 ERA. Okert was designated for assignment by the Giants on March 23, 2019, and outrighted on March 26. He spent the year in Triple-A with the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

, posting a 8–2 record and 5.31 ERA in 50 appearances with the team. On November 4, 2019, he elected free agency.

Miami Marlins

On February 26, 2021, Okert signed a minor league contract with the

organization. He was assigned to the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to begin the year. In 15 appearances with Jacksonville, he logged a 2–0 record and 1.80 ERA. On June 29, Okert was selected to the active roster.

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okert, Steven 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Riverside, California Major League Baseball pitchers San Francisco Giants players Miami Marlins players Grayson Vikings baseball players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Arizona League Giants players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sacramento River Cats players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players