Former Cavalier Pitcher Noah Murdock Makes MLB Debut

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Former Virginia baseball player Noah Murdock (2017-19) made his Major League Baseball debut on Saturday (March 29) for the Athletics. The Righthander threw 2.1 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and was awarded a hold in the Athletics’ 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Murdock became the 32nd player to have played for head coach Brian O’Connor to reach the big leagues in 22 seasons. With the addition of Murdock, a total of 56 former Cavaliers have played in an MLB game.

After being selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 199th pick in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Murdock spent the next five seasons in the Royals’ organization before his contract was purchased by the Athletics during the Rule Five Draft in December.

Used primarily as the team’s Friday night starter, Murdock struck out 69 batters in 74.1 innings pitches during the 2019 season. During his final season on grounds, the then-junior made a team-high 14 starts including five in which he struck out seven or more batters.

As a freshman in 2017, Murdock earned ACC All-Freshman recognition after appearing in 11 games. He held a consecutive scoreless innings streak of 19.1 innings in outings against Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Florida State.