American baseball player

Christopher M. B*itt (born February 22, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2014 and played for the Oakland Athletics from 2015 to 2021. Prior to playing professionally, he starred for his basketball and baseball teams at Genoa Area High School and the University of Akron.

Contents

• 1 Amateur career
• 2 Professional career
  • 2.1 Minor Leagues
  • 2.2 Chicago White Sox
  • 2.3 Oakland Athletics
  • 2.4 New York Mets
• 3 Scouting report
• 4 Personal
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Amateur career

B*itt attended Genoa Area High School in Genoa, Ohio, where he played school's baseball and basketball teams. In his senior year, B*itt was named to the All-Suburban Lakes League first team in both sports. He had a 1.56 earned run average (ERA) with 65 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched for the baseball team in 2007, his senior year.

B*itt was recruited out of high school to play basketball collegiately. He chose to enroll at the University of Akron, where he played college baseball for the Akron Zips baseball team, competing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). B*itt took a redshirt in his first year at Akron. In 2009, as a redshirt freshman, B*itt served as the Zips' closer. He pitched to a 1–2 win–loss record, a 3.52 ERA, and seven saves. In his sop*re year, he pitched in only one game, as he focused on academics. In 2011, his junior year, B*itt pitched to a 1.42 ERA and limited opposing batters to a .183 batting average against. He was named to the All-MAC second team.

Professional career

Minor Leagues

The Chicago White Sox selected B*itt in the 16th round of the 2011 MLB draft, with the 501st overall selection. B*itt signed with the White Sox, and was *igned to the Bristol White Sox of the Rookie-level Appalachian League to begin his professional career. In 2013, he began the season with the Winston-Salem Dash of the Cl* A-Advanced Carolina League, where he was named an all-star. He was promoted to the Birmingham Barons of the Cl* AA Southern League, and recorded two wins in the Southern League playoffs. After working as a relief pitcher for most of his career, the White Sox used B*itt as a starting pitcher in 2013. He had pitched to an 11–4 win–loss record, a 3.08 ERA, and 138 strikeouts in 26 games started with Birmingham. After the season, the White Sox *igned him to the Arizona Fall League (AFL), where he pitched in relief for the Glendale Desert Dogs. In the AFL, he had a 0.90 ERA in ten innings pitched.

B*itt broke his right hand prior to the 2014 season. He made three rehabilitative appearances with the Arizona White Sox of the Rookie-level Arizona League, before returning to Birmingham on July 29. He had a 3–1 record and a 1.56 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 34+2⁄3 innings for Birmingham.

Chicago White Sox

On August 30, 2014, B*itt made his major league debut in a start against the Detroit Tigers. He had a 3.94 ERA in six appearances with the White Sox. After the regular season, the White Sox *igned B*itt to Glendale of the AFL, where he had a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings, striking out 22 batters while walking only three.

Oakland Athletics

After the 2014 season, the White Sox traded B*itt, Josh Phegley, Marcus Semien, and Rangel Ravelo to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Jeff Samardzija and Michael Ynoa. B*itt began the 2015 season with the Nashville Sounds of the Cl* AAA Pacific Coast League, and was promoted to the major leagues on April 23. In 18 games (13 starts), B*itt finished 1-8 with a 3.56 ERA.

B*itt's 2016 season became short-lived after 5 starts with a 0-2 record and a 6.11 ERA. On May 5, 2016, it was announced that B*itt would undergo Tommy John surgery, putting him aside for the rest of 2016. He missed more than half of the 2017 season while recovering from surgery. He was recalled on June 9, 2018 to the A's rotation, his first start in 2 years. He was sent down and back up to the Majors in the following 2 weeks. On March 26, 2019, B*itt was placed on the injured list with a leg injury. B*itt finished the season with a record of 10–5 in 28 games (25 starts). He struck out 141 batters in 144 innings.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, B*itt posted a 5–2 record with a 2.29 ERA in 11 starts. He was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for September that year, as during that month he went 3–0 in four starts while allowing only one run in 26+2⁄3 innings.

On May 27, 2021, B*itt threw his first career complete game against the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up just 2 hits while striking out 9 batters in a 5-0 win. On August 17, 2021, B*itt was struck in the face by a line drive and exited on a motorized stretcher. He returned to the mound later in the season on September 23, 2021.

New York Mets

On March 12, 2022, B*itt was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller.

Scouting report

B*itt throws four pitches, a four-seam and two-seam fastball that range between 92–99 miles per hour (148–159:km/h), a slider at 85–89 miles per hour (137–143:km/h) and a curveball at 69–75 miles per hour (111–121:km/h). B*itt throws with great deception, as most of his pitches have either a lot of rise or a lot of break.

Personal

B*itt is from Curtice, Ohio. He also played basketball in high school.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or:ESPN, or:Baseball Reference, or:Fangraphs, or:Baseball Reference (Minors)
• "Chris B*itt". Akron Athletics. Akron University. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.