| Derek Lilliquist | |
|---|---|
 Lilliquist with St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1966-02-20)February 20, 1966 (age 59) Winter Park, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 13, 1989, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 6, 1996, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 25–34 |
| Earned run average | 4.13 |
| Strikeouts | 261 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As coach
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Derek Jansen Lilliquist (born February 20, 1966) is an American formerMajor League Baseball (MLB)pitcher andpitching coach. He played for theAtlanta Braves (1989–1990),San Diego Padres (1990–1991),Cleveland Indians (1992–1994),Boston Red Sox (1995) andCincinnati Reds (1996), and has coached for theSt. Louis Cardinals andWashington Nationals.
While playing for theUniversity of Georgia (UGA), Lilliquist was selected asBaseball America's Pitcher of the Year and was anAll-American in 1987. In the major leagues, he functioned primarily as arelief pitcher. With Cleveland in 1992, he posted career lows inearned run average (2.25),hits per nine innings (5.7), andwalks plus hits per inning pitched (0.924) while appearing in a career-high 71 games.
Derek Lilliquist graduated fromSarasota High School inSarasota, Florida,[1] in 1984. He playedcollege baseball for theGeorgia Bulldogs. In 1986 and 1987, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theCotuit Kettleers of theCape Cod Baseball League.[2] In 1987, Lilliquist was anAll-American selection according to both theAmerican Baseball Coaches Association andBaseball America (BA). He was also BA's Pitcher of the Year for that season.[3] He helped lead to UGA to their first-everSoutheastern Conference title and trip to theCollege World Series. In three seasons at UGA, Lilliquist posted a 31–12won–loss record and 3.30earned run average (ERA).[1]
TheAtlanta Braves selected Lilliquist as the sixth overall pick in the1987 Major League Baseball draft and assigned him to theGulf Coast League Braves in the Rookie League ofMinor League Baseball that same season. There he made twostarts, totaling 13innings pitched (IP), allowing just threehits and noruns. He was promoted to theDurham Bulls of theCarolina League, where he made three starts, totaling 25 IP, twocomplete games and a 2.88 ERA. The next season, the Braves again promoted him, this time to theAAARichmond Braves of theInternational League, where he spent the entire season. Lilliquist started all 28 games in which he appeared, posting a 3.38 ERA in a professional-high170+2⁄3 IP. Whilestriking out just 80 batters, he also allowed just 36bases on balls (BB).[4]
Facing theSan Diego Padres atJack Murphy Stadium inSan Diego in his MLB debut on April 13,1989, Lilliquist pitched the Braves to a 4–1 victory. In7+1⁄3 IP, he allowed just the run on three hits while earning the win.[5] For the season, he pitched his MLB career-high165+2⁄3 innings and allowed a 3.97 ERA. However, he also allowed 202 hits for an average of 11.0hits per nine innings pitched (H/9). He finished second in theNational League (NL) inbases on balls per 9 innings pitched (BB/9) with 1.847 and fourth in the NLRookie of the Year voting.
On May 1,1990, atAtlanta inAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Lilliquist became one of the few pitchers to have a multi-homer game when he hit twohome runs offRon Darling in a Braves' 5–2 victory over theNew York Mets.[6] His batting statistics for the Braves that season included eight hits in 23at bats for a .348 batting average, two home runs and threeruns batted in with a .609slugging percentage. However, his pitching had declined since his rookie year.
With a 6.28 ERA and two wins and eight losses in 11 starts, the Braves traded Lilliquist to theSan Diego Padres forMark Grant on July 12, 1990. Lilliquist's only career MLBcomplete game andshutout occurred on August 12, 1990, in a 9–0 defeat of theHouston Astros. He allowed four hits while striking out three.[7] With the Padres that season, he fared better, posting a 4.33 ERA.
Spending most of the 1991 season in theminor leagues, the Padres assigned Lilliquist to theLas Vegas Stars of thePacific Coast League. Here, he allowed 142 hits in 105 IP and 33 games for 5.38 ERA, contributing as both astarter andreliever. With the Padres, he allowed 14earned runs in14+1⁄3 IP for an 8.79 ERA.
TheCleveland Indians claimed Lilliquist offwaivers from the Padres on November 22, 1991. He converted to full-time relief duty in1992. Here, he posted some of his career-best numbers, including ERA, H/9, andwalks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). In 71 games, he pitched61+2⁄3 innings, allowed just 39 hits for 5.7 H/9, 0.924 WHIP and a 2.25 ERA. His 71 appearances placed fourth in theAmerican League (AL) among pitchers. He alsofinished 22 games andsaved six.
Continuing on his success in1993, Lilliquist appeared in 56 games, posting a 2.25 ERA, 1.297 WHIP while saving ten games and finishing 28. His final year in Cleveland saw his ERA rise to 4.91 in1994.
He signed as a free agent with theBoston Red Sox before the1995 season, but could not replicate his success in Cleveland. He appeared in 28 games while posting a 6.26 ERA. The Red Sox released him in July, making him a free agent.
TheLos Angeles Dodgers signed Lilliquist on August 1, 1995, and assigned him to their AAA minor league affiliate, theAlbuquerque Dukes. They never called him up to the major leagues. He again became a free agent following the season and signed with theCincinnati Reds for the1996 season. The Reds assigned him to their AAA minor league affiliate, theIndianapolis Indians, where he appeared in 47 games – all as a reliever – and posted a 2.60 ERA. The Reds called Lilliquist up to the major leagues, where he appeared in five games. His last MLB game was on September 6, 1996, against theSan Francisco Giants, where he faced one batter and gave up a hit.[8]
After retiring as a player, Lilliquist coached forVero Beach High School inVero Beach, Florida, from 1998 to 2001.[1]
Lilliquist next coached in theSt. Louis Cardinals organization. In 2002, he served as the pitching coach for theJohnson City Cardinals of the Rookie League, where his pitching staff posted a 5.04 ERA and 7.8strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (K/9) in 67 games.[9] The next season, he handled the same role for the Class APeoria Chiefs. This team posted a 3.48 ERA and 5.8 K/9 in 138 games.[10]
Lilliquist spent the next four seasons as the pitching coach for the Class APalm Beach Cardinals of theFlorida State League (FSL) inJupiter, Florida. His clubs twice made the playoffs. Palm Beach won the 2005 FSL Championship as the pitching staff registered the league's second-best ERA at 3.94.[1] He then contributed as the Cardinals' pitching coordinator from 2008–10, helping to rehabilitate injured pitchers at the club'sspring training complex in Jupiter.[11]
The Cardinals named Lilliquist as the Cardinals major league bullpen coach on November 2, 2010.[11] Late in the Cardinals'2011World Series–championship season, he temporarily replaced incumbent pitching coachDave Duncan, who took a leave of absence for family reasons. On January 6, 2012, the Cardinals announced that Lilliquist would permanently replace Duncan, whose future remained uncertain.[12] On October 3, 2017, the Cardinals announced that Lilliquist would not return to the team for the2018 season.[13]
TheWashington Nationals named Lilliquist as their major league pitching coach on November 9, 2017.[14] On May 2, 2019, the Nationals announced that they had fired Lilliquist immediately after the conclusion of that evening's game and had replaced him with Nationals minor league pitching coordinatorPaul Menhart.[15][16]
During the offseason, Lilliquist resides inVero Beach,Florida. He has two children, Derek and Alexandra.
· Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by unknown | Johnson City Cardinals pitching coach 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Peoria Chiefs pitching coach 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by unknown | Palm Beach Cardinals pitching coach 2004-2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | St. Louis Cardinalsbullpen coach 2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | St. Louis Cardinalspitching coach 2012-2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Washington Nationals pitching coach 2018-2019 | Succeeded by |