| Koda Glover | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Glover with theWashington Nationals in 2018 | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: (1993-04-13)April 13, 1993 (age 31) Monroe, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 20, 2016, for the Washington Nationals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 2018, for the Washington Nationals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 3–4 |
| Earned run average | 4.55 |
| Strikeouts | 42 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Koda James Glover (born April 13, 1993) is an American former professionalbaseballpitcher. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theWashington Nationals. He is ofCherokee andSioux descent.[1][2]
Glover was born inMonroe, Oklahoma,[3] and graduated fromHeavener High School inHeavener, Oklahoma.[4] He was a four-time all-conference pick and two-time conference player of the year,[4] posting a 28–4win–loss record with over 300strikeouts.[4] During his senior year, he had an 11–0 record with a 1.69earned run average (ERA) and 114 strikeouts.[4] He also was an all-conference and all-countybasketball player in high school.[4]
Glover playedcollege baseball atEastern Oklahoma State College andOklahoma State University and underwentTommy John surgery.[1]
A careerrelief pitcher, Glover was selected by theWashington Nationals in the eighth round of the2015 Major League Baseball Draft specifically to pitch in relief.[1][5] He made his professional debut that year with theAuburn Doubledays and was promoted to theHagerstown Suns after three games.[6]
Glover started 2016 with thePotomac Nationals and was promoted to theHarrisburg Senators after not giving up a run in seven games.[7] As the2016 season progressed, Glover was promoted to play with theSyracuse Chiefs.[1] Prior to his major-league debut, Glover averaged 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched over the course of his minor-league career,[1] and during 2016 he pitched45+1⁄3 innings in the minors before being called up to play with theWashington Nationals, amassing a won-loss record of 3–0 with sixsaves, a 2.18ERA, 52 strikeouts, and 14 walks.[1]
Glover made his major-league debut with the Nationals on July 20, 2016, as one of the fastest-rising draft picks in Nationals history[1] and the first member of the Nationals'2013,2014, 2015, or2016 draft classes to reach the majors.[1] Entering the game to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning, he retired all three batters he faced on just four pitches to complete an 8–1 win over theLos Angeles Dodgers.[8][9] All four pitches were strikes, and at least two of them were 98-mph (158-km/h)fastballs.[9] Glover suffered a tornhip labrum midway through his time with the major league team, which he attempted to pitch through until disclosing the injury to pitching coachMike Maddux after giving up a home run on September 26, 2016, at which point he was shut down for the season.[10]
Glover wore #32 in his first season in the major leagues. However, after the Nationals signedMatt Wieters to play catcher for the2017 season, he voluntarily switched his number to #30 to allow Wieters to continue wearing the #32 he had worn with theBaltimore Orioles.[11] In the early days of the 2017 season, Glover's left hip trouble recurred, and he was placed on the 10-day disabled list with what the Nationals described as a left hip impingement on April 26.[12] The stint was short-lived, as he was activated on May 12. ManagerDusty Baker said he would share closing duties withShawn Kelley after Opening Day closerBlake Treinen was removed from the role,[13] although Kelley was reportedly to take on primary closing duties, with Glover filling in when he was unavailable.[14]
The Nationals' bullpen struggled over the first quarter of the 2017 season, marked by Treinen's travails in and eventual demotion from the role of closer in April[15] and Kelley subsequently disappointing in the job as his home run and walk rates spiked.[16] By late May, the role fell to Glover, with Baker describing him as the team's "most durable" option despite his earlier time on the disabled list and hip injury the previous season. "We're willing to give it to him as long as he keeps doing the job," said Baker.[17] Glover's improvedslider drew national media attention after he struck outHunter Renfroe to finish off theSan Diego Padres with a 96-mph pitch breaking sharply down and away from the batter, the hardest such pitch thrown for a swinging strike all season.[18] He notched four saves in five days toward the end of May while forming a back-end tandem with veteran setup manMatt Albers.[19]
Glover was placed on the disabled list on June 11 for the second time in the 2017 season with back stiffness after a blown save.[20] While Glover initially said he had injured his back while showering, he later amended his story, admitting he had been trying to pitch through right shoulder pain since late May and that an MRI showed severe inflammation of hisrotator cuff, pain from which he blamed for "overcompensation" that he said led to avertebra moving out of place when he slipped in the shower.[21] Glover was shut down from his rehabilitation inWest Palm Beach in September after experiencing a setback.[22]
After starting the2018 season on the disabled list after experiencing discomfort and being shut down with another bout of shoulder inflammation early in spring training, Glover rehabbed with theGCL Nationals andSyracuse Chiefs before being activated and optioned to Syracuse on July 22, 2018.[23] Glover missed the entire 2019 season due to forearm and elbow pain.[24]
Glover announced his retirement from baseball on December 2, 2019.[24]
Glover employed a four-pitch arsenal, with hisfastball velocity topping out in the high 90s, a hardslider (which he sometimes described as acutter)[25] that often reached the mid-90s, and achangeup andcurveball he threw less frequently.[26][27][28] Retired baseball scout Bernie Pleskoff, writing of Glover in 2017, described him as having "a mound demeanor that exudes confidence and no-nonsense".[29]
In January 2020, Glover was named head coach of theHowe High School baseball team.[30]