| Locke St. John | |
|---|---|
.jpg) St. John with the Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2014 | |
| Free agent | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: January 31, 1993 Pell City, Alabama, U.S. | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 25, 2019, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 0–0 |
| Earned run average | 7.27 |
| Strikeouts | 9 |
| Teams | |
Kenton Locke St. John (born January 31, 1993) is an American professional baseball relief pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs.
St. John attended Pell City High School in Pell City, Alabama.[1] He played college baseball at Southern Union Community College for two years and then transferred to the University of South Alabama for one season.[2] He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round, with the 970th overall selection, of the 2014 MLB draft.[3]
St. John spent the 2014 through 2017 seasons in the Tigers organization.[4] During his time with them, he played for the GCL Tigers, Connecticut Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and Lakeland Flying Tigers.[5][4] During the 2017 season, he converted from a conventional over the top pitcher, into a side-armer.[4]
St. John was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the 2017 Rule 5 draft.[6] He split the 2018 season between the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and the Frisco RoughRiders Double-A Texas League, going a combined 6–3 with a 2.67 ERA in 60.2 innings.[7][4] He opened the 2019 season back with Frisco,[8] and on June 6 he was promoted to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.[4] Between the two levels, St. John went 5–4 with a 4.38 ERA in 48 innings.
On June 20, 2019, St. John had his contract selected and he was promoted to the major leagues.[9] He made his major league debut on June 25, retiring the two batters he faced.[10] On September 1, 2019, St. John was designated for assignment after going 0–0 with a 5.40 ERA over 6.2 innings.[11] He was outrighted to Nashville on September 3.[12] He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.
On January 4, 2021, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers.[13] Over 36 games for the Toledo Mud Hens in 2021, he posted a 2.58 ERA.
On November 29, 2021, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.[14] He was assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs to begin the season, posting a 5.14 ERA across five appearances. On April 16, 2022, the Cubs selected St. John's contract.[15] St. John appeared in 1 game for Chicago, but surrendered 3 runs off of 2 home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was designated for assignment on May 3 following the promotion of Robert Gsellman.[16]
On May 10, 2022, St. John was claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs by the New York Mets, who designated him for assignment. The team opened up a spot on the 40-man roster for St. John when Jacob deGrom was transferred to the 60-day IL.[17] He didn’t appear in a major league game for New York before he was designated for assignment on June 26. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets on July 1.[18] He spent the remainder of the season with Syracuse, struggling to a 2-5 record and 6.00 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 42.0 innings pitched across 29 appearances. On October 14, St. John elected to become a free agent.
On February 3, 2023, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins organization.[19] St. John was released by the organization on March 24.[20]