John Wasdin is a former professional baseball player who played as a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for over a decade. He was born on August 5, 1972, in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. Wasdin attended Florida State University, where he played college baseball for the Seminoles.
Wasdin was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 1993 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Athletics in 1995 and played for them until 1998. During his time with the Athletics, Wasdin was primarily used as a relief pitcher and had a 4.97 earned run average (ERA) in 107 games.
In 1999, Wasdin was traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he played for two seasons. He had a career-best season in 2000, posting a 3.75 ERA in 35 games. Wasdin was then traded to the Colorado Rockies in 2001 but struggled with a 6.68 ERA in 14 games.
After his stint with the Rockies, Wasdin bounced around several teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Oakland Athletics (for a second time). He played his final MLB game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007.
Throughout his MLB career, Wasdin had a 39-39 record with a 5.28 ERA in 267 games (74 starts). He struck out 523 batters in 776 innings pitched.
After retiring from baseball, Wasdin became a pitching coach. He worked as a minor league pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2011 to 2015 and was promoted to the major league pitching coach in 2016. Wasdin was then hired as the pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles in 2019.
In addition to his coaching career, Wasdin is also an author. He wrote a book titled "The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran," which chronicles his experiences as a minor league baseball player.
Overall, John Wasdin had a respectable career as a pitcher in MLB, playing for several teams over a decade. He now works as a pitching coach and has also written a book about his experiences in baseball.
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