Brad Bergesen | |||
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![]() Bergesen with the Baltimore Orioles
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Lancaster Barnstormers – No. 10 | |||
Pitcher | |||
Born: Concord, California |
September 25, 1985 |||
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Professional debut | |||
MLB: April 21, 2009, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
NPB: April 2, 2013, for the Chunichi Dragons | |||
MLB: | |||
NPB: July 26, 2013, for the Chunichi Dragons | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 19–25 | ||
Earned run average | 4.61 | ||
Strikeouts | 225 | ||
NPB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 2–2 | ||
Earned run average | 3.71 | ||
Strikeouts | 22 | ||
Teams | |||
Bradley "Brad" Steven Bergesen (born September 25, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons. He attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton, California.
Bergesen was called up to the Baltimore Orioles from the Triple-A Norfolk Tides to make his first major-league start on April 21, 2009. He pitched 5 2⁄3 innings for the win against the Chicago White Sox, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, striking out four. Bergesen's starts for the next month would be much rockier, as his ERA quickly increased and sat at 5.49 after a start on May 24.
Bergesen's year turned around dramatically at this point. From May 29 through July 30 (a span of 12 starts), he pitched at least six innings each start and allowed more than three earned runs only once. He had a particularly impressive stretch from May 29 to June 14, when over four starts he pitched 32 innings and allowed just six runs (an ERA of only 1.69). The start on June 14 was his first career complete game, an 11-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Bergesen continued to pitch well over the course of the year, emerging as the Orioles' most dependable starting pitcher as the summer continued. Unfortunately for the Orioles, his final start would be on July 30, against the Kansas City Royals. Bergesen was pitching another solid game, having allowed only one run thus far, and was one out away from getting out of a jam in the seventh inning when the Royals' Billy Butler hit a line drive straight into Bergesen's left shin. Bergesen collapsed immediately upon being hit, and the ball rolled back towards Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who threw Butler out at first. Bergesen managed to get up quickly, slap gloves with Wieters, and hobble into the Orioles' dugout unassisted before collapsing in the tunnel. X-rays and an MRI did not reveal any bone fracture, but the injury would end Bergesen's season.