Ryan Yarbrough

Ryan Christian Yarbrough (born December 31, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals. The Seattle Mariners selected Yarbrough in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB draft.

Amateur career
After graduating from All Saints' Academy in Winter Haven, Florida, Yarbrough played college baseball at Santa Fe College in 2011 before transferring to Old Dominion University, where he pitched for the Old Dominion Monarchs in 2013 and 2014. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign. In 2014, his senior season, he went 6–7 with a 4.50 ERA in 18 games (14 starts).

Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners selected Yarbrough in the fourth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft and he made his professional debut with the Pulaski Mariners. After two games, he was promoted to the Everett AquaSox. Overall, he pitched in 14 games (10 starts) and had a 1.27 earned run average (ERA) with 58 strikeouts in $42 2/3$ innings in 2014.

In 2015, he played for the Arizona League Mariners, Clinton LumberKings, and Bakersfield Blaze where he compiled a combined 4–8 record and 4.10 ERA in 22 starts. In 2016, he pitched for the Jackson Generals where he was 12–4 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 25 games started.

Tampa Bay Rays
On January 11, 2017, the Mariners traded Yarbrough, Mallex Smith, and Carlos Vargas to the Tampa Bay Rays for Drew Smyly. He spent the season with the Durham Bulls where he pitched to a 13–6 record and 3.43 ERA in 26 starts. The Rays added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

Yarbrough made the Rays' Opening Day roster in 2018, making his debut against the Boston Red Sox on March 31, pitching four innings, allowing one run and recording three strikeouts. His first MLB strikeout was of Brock Holt. Yarbrough finished the season with 16 wins, the most for a rookie in franchise history, the most for a rookie in the 2018 season, and the second-most on the team. He finished his rookie season posting an earned run average of 3.91 over $141 1/3$ innings despite working predominantly out of the bullpen. Yarbrough was mainly utilized as the "bulk guy" behind the Rays' new opener strategy.

On April 24, 2019, Yarbrough was optioned to Triple-A after registering an ERA of 8.10 in his first five appearances of the season. He rejoined the major league team on May 23. On July 14, 2019 against the Baltimore Orioles, after Ryne Stanek opened with two perfect innings, Yarbrough then pitched six perfect innings of his own, losing the combined perfect game bid to a leadoff single in the ninth inning. His run of success continued in the season's second half, as he improved his ERA to 3.51 and his WHIP to 0.88 by September 10, which would have been second-best in MLB among starting pitchers if Yarbrough pitched enough innings to qualify. He struggled in his last few starts and finished the season 11–6 with a 4.13 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 117 strikeouts over $141 2/3$ innings. He pitched three scoreless innings as a reliever in the American League (AL) Division Series against the Houston Astros.

Due to many injuries to their pitching staff to begin the 2020 season, Yarbrough was used exclusively in the rotation before suffering a groin injury and beingplaced on the disabled list on August 29, 2020. For the season, he was 1-4 with a 3.56 ERA in 11 games, while leading the AL in hit batsmen, with seven. He pitched five innings in Game 4 of the Division Series against the New York Yankees, allowing two runs on six hits and started the third game of the AL Championship Series, picking up the win. In the 2020 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yarbrough pitched in three games, starting one of them, and allowed two earned runs on seven hits in $4 2⁄3$ innings.

On June 3, 2021, Yarbrough threw a complete game victory against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, which was the first Rays complete game since Matt Andriese threw one in May 2016. The five-year drought was the longest in the league. It was also Yarbrough's first win as a starter since he pitched into the ninth inning against the Mariners at Safeco Field in 2019, as well as his first career complete game. For the season he was 9–7 with a 5.11 ERA in 30 games (21 starts).

Yarbrough made 30 appearances (nine starts) in 2022 for the Rays, with a 3–8 record and 4.50 ERA. Following the season, on November 15, the Rays designated him for assignment and he was non-tendered and became a free agent on November 18.

Kansas City Royals
On December 13, 2022, Yarbrough signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. In a May 7, 2023 game against the Oakland Athletics, he was struck in the head by a 106-mph line drive off the bat of Ryan Noda. He was later diagnosed with multiple non-displaced fractures around his right eye and placed on the injured list. He did not rejoing the active roster until July 9. Yarbrough pitched in 14 games, making seven starts for the Royals with a 4–5 record and 4.24 ERA in 51 innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers
On August 1, 2023, Yarbrough was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Devin Mann and Derlin Figueroa. He pitched in 11 games (two starts) for a 4–2 record and 4.89 ERA for the Dodgers the rest of the 2023 season. Yarbrough agreed to a $3.9 million contract with the Dodgers for 2024 in salary arbitration.

Personal
Yarbrough and his wife, Nicole were married in 2019 and had their first child, a daughter, in 2021. A second daughter was born in 2023.