Bryan Mitchell


Bryan Bedford Mitchell is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization. He has played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres.

Amateur career

Mitchell attended Rockingham County High School in Reidsville, North Carolina. Playing for the school's baseball team, the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association named Mitchell to their All-State team in 2009. He committed to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play college baseball for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Yankees selected him in the 16th round of the 2009 MLB Draft, after teams passed on him due to his commitment to UNC. Mitchell chose to sign with the Yankees, rather than enroll at UNC. He received an $800,000 signing bonus.
In 2012, Mitchell played for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League, and was named an All-Star. In 2013, he pitched for the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League.
The Yankees added Mitchell to their 40-man roster on November 20, 2013. He began the 2015 season with Trenton, and was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on April 20, 2014. He injured his arm while warming up and was optioned back to the minors without appearing in a game. He received a midseason promotion to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League. On July 13, Mitchell was called up again. He again was optioned to the minors without appearing in a game.

New York Yankees

He made his MLB debut on August 10, 2014. He made his first major league start on September 12.
Mitchell began the 2015 season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and was promoted to the major leagues on June 19. On August 17, Mitchell was hit in the face by a line drive hit by Eduardo Núñez. He was taken out of the game, and diagnosed with a nasal fracture.
On March 30, 2016 Mitchell injured his foot, which required surgery and caused him to miss most of the 2016 season.
On April 30, 2017, Mitchell played at first base, becoming only one of very few pitchers to play at that position. After pitching a scoreless ninth, he was asked to play first base in the tenth in order to be available to pitch in the eleventh. While at first base, Mitchell committed a fielding error while trying to put away a pop up in foul territory. He later made a successful putout on a later batter who popped up. In the eleventh, Mitchell went back to the mound, but ended up surrendering three runs as the Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles 4-7. The next day, on May 1, Mitchell was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre in exchange for Luis Cessa. He had pitched 11.1 innings, posting a 6.35 ERA. He was recalled on May 21. After being optioned back Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre, he was again recalled on August 8.

San Diego Padres

On December 12, 2017, the Yankees traded Mitchell and Chase Headley to the San Diego Padres for Jabari Blash. He opened the season in the Padres rotation but after 7 starts, he was sent to the bullpen. He was placed on the disabled list on June 21st. He ended the season 2-4 in 16 games. He struck out 38 batters but also induced 43 walks in 73 innings. Mitchell was designated for assignment on March 28, 2019, following the promotion of Nick Margevicius and outrighted on April 1, 2019. He elected free agency on October 1.

Chicago White Sox

On January 16, 2020, Mitchell signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox.