Spencer Turnbull
Spencer Ketcham Turnbull is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball.Career
Turnbull attended Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi, and the University of Alabama, where he played college baseball for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He became Alabama's top starting pitcher in 2013. After the 2013 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
The Detroit Tigers selected Turnbull in the second round, with the 63rd overall selection, of the 2014 MLB draft. He signed with the Tigers, receiving a $900,600 signing bonus. He began his professional career with the GCL Tigers, and after one start, was promoted to the Connecticut Tigers, where he finished the season, posting an 0–2 record and 4.45 ERA in 11 starts. He spent 2015 with the West Michigan Whitecaps where he was 11–3 with a 3.01 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 22 starts. He missed most of the 2016 season due to a shoulder impingement. Turnbull began 2017 with the Lakeland Flying Tigers, compiling a 7–3 record and 3.05 ERA in 15 starts, and finished the season with the Erie SeaWolves where he pitched to an 0–3 record and 6.20 ERA in four starts.
The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season. He returned to Erie in 2018. He started 13 games for the SeaWolves and then two games for the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League, before the Tigers promoted him to the major leagues on September 11. He made his major league debut on September 14, pitching a 1-2-3 inning of relief with one strikeout against the Cleveland Indians. He finished 0–2 in 4 appearances for Detroit.
In 2019, Turnbull made the starting rotation out of spring training and earned his first MLB win on April 23. Turnbull went 3–17 on the season with a 4.61 ERA and 146 strikeouts in innings. His 17 losses led the major leagues.
