Edward Cory Kunz (born April 8, 1986) is an American former

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 (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. He 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

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

Early life and amateur career

Kunz was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. He attended

Parkrose High School Parkrose High School is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the only high school in the Parkrose School District. Academics In 2008, 72% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 231 students, 167 gradua ...

, where he played football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and baseball. In 2006, 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 operate ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

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 thous ...

and was named a league all-star. He was a preseason

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n second-team in for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for c ...

Professional career

New York Mets

On August 24, , the New York Mets signed Kunz after they selected him 42nd overall in 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 fir ...

. Less than a year later, on August 3, , he was called up to the Major Leagues from the Double-A affiliate,

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in M ...

, after having a 2.79

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...

with 27 saves in 44 games. That day, in his Major League debut, he pitched a scoreless seventh inning. However, two weeks later, after struggling and the Mets' trade for Luis Ayala, he was demoted back to the minors. On November 5, 2010, Kunz was sent down to the minors to Triple-A Buffalo along with

Jesús Feliciano Jesús Feliciano (born June 6, 1979) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He was most recently the first base coach for the Los Angeles Angels of the Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the New York M ...

and

Raul Valdes Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may r ...

. Along with them were

Mike Hessman Michael Steven Hessman (born March 5, 1978) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman. He is currently a hitting coach for the Toledo Mud Hens. He played in the MLB for the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, and Ne ...

and Omir Santos who then became free-agents after refusing their minor league assignment.

San Diego Padres

On March 29, 2011, Kunz was traded by the Mets to the Padres at the end of spring training for minor league first baseman

Allan Dykstra Allan Christopher Dykstra (born May 21, 1987) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. He was the starting first baseman for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during his college career ...

. On March 20, 2013, Kunz was released by the Padres.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunz, Eddie Living people 1986 births New York Mets players Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Oregon State Beavers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Cyclones players Binghamton Mets players New Orleans Zephyrs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players San Antonio Missions players Tucson Padres players Parkrose High School alumni Falmouth Commodores players