Timothy Edward Butler (born March 13, 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 dr ...

for the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseb ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. 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 (A ...

(MLB) for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

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 locate ...

, and Texas Rangers. He also played in the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

for the NC Dinos.

Amateur career

Butler attended

Greenbrier Christian Academy Greenbrier Christian Academy (GCA) is a private Christian school located in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake, Virginia. It was founded in 1983. History H. Ron White created GCA after serving in many education positions. After an informal i ...

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

. After playing for the school's baseball team, ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgini ...

'' named him to their All-

Tidewater Tidewater may refer to: * Tidewater (region), a geographic area of southeast Virginia, southern Maryland, and northeast North Carolina. ** Tidewater accent, an accent of American English associated with the Tidewater region of Virginia * Tidewater ...

team in 2009, his senior year. The Texas Rangers selected him in the 35th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign and attended

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs incl ...

, where he 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 ...

for the

Radford Highlanders The Radford Highlanders are composed of 15 teams representing Radford University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and tennis. Men's sports include baseball. Women's sports include vo ...

. In his junior year, Butler pitched to a 7–4

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 match ...

and a 2.20

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 numb ...

(ERA). He won the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non- football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). ...

Pitcher of the Year Award. In 2011, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

The

selected Butler in the first 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 ...

. He signed with the Rockies, receiving a $1 million

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 ...

. Butler made his professional debut with the

Grand Junction Rockies The Grand Junction Jackalopes 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 Grand Junction, Colorado, and play their home games ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and was named an All-Star after going 7–1 with a 2.13 ERA and 55

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 den ...

s. Butler began the 2013 season with the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in differe ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, but after making nine starts for Asheville, he was promoted to the

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the region. They play the ...

of 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 ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major L ...

. He was named to appear in the 2013

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 Leag ...

, where he pitched an inning without allowing a run. Butler made six starts for the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

to conclude the season. The Rockies invited Butler to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

in 2014. They assigned him to Tulsa to start the 2014 season, and he started Tulsa's season opener. After he pitched to a 2.49 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 19 walks in

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 inning ...

, the Rockies promoted Butler to the major leagues for his debut on June 6. He recorded a loss in his first start, pitching 5innings and giving up 6 runs on 10 hits. He was placed on the disabled-list before his next scheduled start with right shoulder inflammation, and he was replaced by Tyler Matzek, who would be the third starting pitcher to debut for the Rockies in six days, along with Butler and Christian Bergman. Butler won the fifth starter's spot out of Spring Training in 2015. Butler struggled mightily at the beginning, inducing 30 walks while striking out just 29 in innings. He was demoted at the end of May to AAA. Butler was once again called up, he finished the season with a 3–10 record along with an ERA of 5.90 in 16 games started. He also had his first complete game of his career. Right-handed batters had a higher batting average against him, .340, than against all other MLB pitchers in 30 or more innings. Eddie Butler on May 14, 2016

Butler finished the 2016 season 2–5 with a 7.17 ERA. On January 28, 2017, Butler was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

Chicago Cubs

On February 1, 2017, Butler was traded to the

for James Farris. He made his Cubs debut on May 12 and pitched 6 shutout innings in a 3–2 victory over the Cardinals. Butler spent time in the Cubs rotation and in the AAA level, appearing in 13 games for the Cubs, 11 of them starts. In innings, Butler was 4–3 with a 3.95 ERA. The following season, Butler began the 2018 season in the Cubs bullpen before being placed on the 60 day disabled list.

Texas Rangers

On July 27, 2018, Butler (along with Rollie Lacy and Alexander Ovalles) was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Cole Hamels. In 22 appearances, he pitched to a 6.47 ERA in 32 innings while going 2/2 in save opportunities. He elected free agency on November 21, 2018.

NC Dinos

On December 3, 2018, Butler signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the NC Dinos of the

. He was waived on July 3, 2019, after pitching to a 3–6 record with a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts.

Chicago Dogs

On June 17, 2020, Butler signed with the Chicago Dogs of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. On November 12, 2020, Butler was released by the Dogs.

Kansas City Royals

On May 4, 2021, Butler signed with the

of the

. However, the next day, the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

organization purchased Butler’s contract and assigned him to the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at W ...

. Butler made 27 appearances for Omaha, going 7-3 with a 6.01 ERA and 55 strikeouts. On September 8, 2021, the Royals released Butler.

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

On April 13, 2022, Butler signed with the

of the

References

External links

Radford Highlanders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Eddie 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Chesapeake, Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Virginia Colorado Rockies players Chicago Cubs players Texas Rangers players Radford Highlanders baseball players Harwich Mariners players Grand Junction Rockies players Asheville Tourists players Modesto Nuts players Tulsa Drillers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Albuquerque Isotopes players Iowa Cubs players NC Dinos players KBO League pitchers American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Chicago Dogs players Omaha Storm Chasers players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players