Joey Estes

Joseph Lee Estes (born October 8, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career
Estes attended Paraclete High School in Lancaster, California. As a freshman in 2016, he compiled a 1.05 ERA, and as a sophomore, he went 9–1 with a 0.31 ERA over ninety innings. In 2019, as a senior, he went 8–0 with a 0.91 ERA and 124 strikeouts. He was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 16th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He signed, forgoing his commitment to play college baseball at Long Beach State University.

Atlanta Braves
Estes made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Braves with whom he gave up nine earned runs over ten innings. He did not play a game in 2020 after the minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Estes spent the 2021 season with the Augusta GreenJackets of the Low-A East, starting twenty games and pitching to a 3–6 record, a 2.91 ERA, and 127 strikeouts over 99 innings. His .181 batting average against was ninth in the minor leagues. He was named the league's Pitcher of the Week twice during the season, and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year following the season's end.

Oakland Athletics
On March 14, 2022, the Braves traded Estes, Shea Langeliers, Ryan Cusick, and Cristian Pache to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Matt Olson. He was assigned to the Lansing Lugnuts of the High-A Midwest League for the 2022 season. Over twenty starts, he went 3-7 with a 4.55 ERA and 92 strikeouts over 91 innings. To open the 2023 season, he was assigned to the Midland RockHounds of the Double-A Texas League. In early August, he was promoted to the Las Vegas Aviators of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. In 27 games (23 starts) between the two affiliates, Estes posted a cumulative 9–6 record and 3.74 ERA with 131 strikeouts in 137.0 innings of work.

On September 20, 2023, Estes was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In two starts for Oakland, he surrendered nine runs (eight earned), 12 hits with seven strikeouts over 10 innings pitched. Estes was optioned to Triple–A Las Vegas to begin the 2024 season.

On July 3, 2024, Estes threw a complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Angels, striking out four batters and issuing one walk in the 5–0 victory.