Cole Sulser #71

Cole grew up on a cattle ranch in Santa Ysabel, a small town in the mountains of Southern California with a population of approximately 500…he and his younger brother, Beau, spent countless hours in an unused barn on the family’s property where their father, Roy, set up a batting cage…as a child, Cole often set 5 a.m. alarms for early-morning training sessions with his dad, who departed for work as a general contractor at 5:30 a.m...Santa Ysabel does not have a school of its own, so the Sulser brothers attended elementary, middle and high school in nearby Ramona, where their mother, Pixie, taught...He chose Dartmouth in order to guarantee a Division I roster spot while obtaining a high-level education…he completed bachelor’s degrees in engineering sciences and mechanical engineering...In June 2024, Cole pitched in the same professional game as his brother, Beau, for the first time, with Cole’s Syracuse Mets taking on Beau’s Buffalo Bisons…Beau joined the Rays player development staff in February...Cole and Beau co-own a San Diego-based business called Sigma Sports Recruiting Consulting, where they share their experiences and insight with young players who may be interested in following paths similar to theirs...Cole and his wife, Dana, were married in 2022 and have a two-year-old son, Cody…Dana is a model and actress and has appeared in several commercials…in 2020, the couple co-authored a children’s picture book loosely based on Cole’s baseball journey called “Benny the Pitcher”…the story follows a farm dog who chases his dream of becoming a famous pitcher. Selected by Cleveland in the 25th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Dartmouth College…tore a ligament in his elbow in April 2011 and missed the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery...His younger brother, Beau, also pitched at Dartmouth and was selected by the Pirates in the 10th round of the 2017 Draft…Beau pitched eight professional seasons before retiring this past season and joining the Rays Player Development department as assistant, pitching.

2025

Made 18 appearances, his most since 2022 (39), across four stints with the Rays: April 11-13, May 6–June 8, June 11-19 and Sept. 7-season’s end… went 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA (22.2IP, 5ER), lowest in any season of his career (min. 10.0IP)…earned multiple wins for the second time, joining 2021 (five) with the Orioles...In his career, has gone 3-1 with a 1.08 ERA (41.2IP, 5ER) over 31 appearances with the Rays compared to 7-13 with a 4.29 ERA (130.0IP, 62ER) across a combined 126 outings with the Orioles, Marlins, Diamondbacks and Mets...Only one of the 61 batted balls against him was barreled, good for a 1.6 pct. barrel rate…was one of six pitchers with 50 batted balls or more to yield one or zero barrels, joining NYM Brooks Raley (66/0), CLE Zak Kent (51/0), LAA Sam Bachman (65/0) and BAL Kade Strowd (67/1)...Posted a career-low 7.8 pct. walk rate, issuing seven free passes to 90 BF…went a career-high eight straight appearances without a walk from May 11–June 15...Opposing hitters swung at a career-high 36.6 pct. of his pitches outside the strike zone, fifth highest among AL relievers (min. 200 out-of-zone pitches)…this includes a 41.3 pct. chase rate against his changeup...Did not allow a run over seven outings spanning nine IP on the road…opponents went 3-for-30 (.100) with 11 SO against him in those games, reaching base safely in four of 31 PA (.129 OBP)…retired 13 of 14 BF over his final three appearances away from home...Was tagged for runs in three of his first four appearances, pitching to a 7.71 ERA (4.2IP, 4ER) in those games…13 of his final 14 outings were scoreless from May 11 on…went 1-0 with a 0.50 ERA (18.0IP, 1ER), 20 SO, 4 BB, a 0.89 WHIP and a .194 (12-for-62) opp. average in that span...After Michael Harris II took him deep on April 12 vs. ATL, did not allow a long ball in any of his final 17 appearances, ending the year with 21.2 straight homerless frames...Logged an AL-leading four scoreless, multi-inning relief appearances in September, tied for second most in MLB to PIT Cameron Mlodzinski (five)…had one such outing in 13 appearances entering the month (2.0IP on May 18 at MIA)...On Sept. 10 at CWS, retired all 6 BF with a career-high-tying four strikeouts, matching Sept. 12, 2024 at CLE…was his fourth career game permitting no baserunners over multiple innings, first since Sept. 16, 2021 vs. NYY as a member of the Orioles...Went 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA (34.2IP, 5ER) across 30 appearances for Triple-A Durham, 26 of which were scoreless…opened the year on a 17.1 scoreless inning streak.

2024

Made 10 appearances between the Mets (4G) and Rays (6G/2GS)…acquired by the Rays on July 26 for cash considerations after New York designated him for assignment on July 22…had two stints with both the Mets (April 8-14 & May 4-8) and Rays (Aug. 11-15 & Aug. 31–Sept. 16)...Did not permit a run over 11.2 innings with the Rays…including his 2019 stint with the club (7G), has not allowed a run in any of his 13 appearances with the Rays (19), the longest scoreless streak to open a pitcher’s career in franchise history...Recorded four scoreless, multi-inning relief appearances in September, tied for second most in the AL behind KC Daniel Lynch (five)...With the Rays, held left-handed hitters to a 1-for-24 (.042) clip with five SO…did not allow a hit in five at-bats with runners in scoring position...Opposing hitters went a combined 7-for-43 (.163 against his four-seam fastball (3-for-22/.136) and changeup (4-for-21/.190), his two most-thrown pitches...On Sept. 12 at CLE, threw a career-high three scoreless innings with a career-best four SO…in three road outings with the Rays (1GS), limited opposing hitters to 1-for-18 (.056) while turning in a 0.67 WHIP...Over 33 Minor League appearances with Triple-A Syracuse and Triple-A Durham, went 1-0 with a 1.66 ERA (43.1IP, 8ER)…min. 40 IP, marked the second-lowest ERA in all of Triple-A behind Evan Sisk (1.57) and was 20th best among full-season Minor Leaguers.

2023

Appeared in four games (5.1 IP) over two separate stints with the Diamondbacks... Missed nearly five months with a right shoulder strain.

2022

Appeared in 39 games with the Marlins, going 1-4 with two saves, a 5.29 ERA (20 ER in 34.0 IP) and 38 strikeouts....28 of his 39 outings were scoreless...Placed on the injured list June 13 (strained right lat)…was reinstated on Aug. 15...Traded to Marlins with RHP Tanner Scott in exchange for OF Kevin Guerrero, LHP Antonio Velez and a player to be named (RHP Yaqui Rivera) on April 3.

2021

Made his second-career Opening Day roster in 2021... Pitched in 60 games for the Orioles and finished the season 5-4 with a 2.70 ERA and 8 saves. He struck out 73 in 63.1 innings... Was one of 23 right-handed relievers to pitch in more than 60 innings with 60-plus strikeouts and maintain an ERA under 3.00 last season, joining new teammate RHP Dylan Floro on the list.

2020

Went 1-2 with five saves, a 3.46 ERA (5 ER/13.0 IP), and a .116 (5-for-43) opponents batting average in his first 10 outings...First batters hit .125 (2-for-16) with three walks...Finished 0-3 with a 8.38 ERA (9 ER/9.2 IP) and a .316 (12-for-38) opponents batting average in his last nine outings...Allowed multiple earned runs in five of the six games in which he surrendered an earned run...Allowed three hits in three at-bats to left-handers on 9/2 vs. NYM; in his other 18 appearances, left-handers went 3-for-39 against him...Issued multiple walks in five of his 19 appearances, and at least one walk in 10 of the appearances, including a career-high three walks twice (8/22 vs. BOS and 8/30 at TOR)...His 17 walks ranked tied for the sixth-most in the majors by a reliever...Eight of his 19 appearances came in a save situation (5-for-8)...Three of his five saves were 1.0+ innings...Was the only player in the majors to record two saves of 2.0+ innings (7/26 at BOS and 8/2 vs. TB)...Struck out a career-high three batters in his appearance on 8/22 vs. BOS (1.1 IP)...Picked up his first career win on 8/11 at PHI...Was dealt his first career loss, after blowing the save, on 7/30 vs. NYY; allowed a three-run, go-ahead home run to Aaron Judge in the ninth inning...Recorded his first career save on 7/26 at BOS (his 2020 season debut)...Appeared on his first career Opening Day roster.

2019

Had his contract selected by the Rays from Triple-A Durham on 9/2... Made his Major League debut on 9/6 vs. TOR (1.0 IP, H, 2 BB, K)...Struck out the first batter he faced (Rowdy Tellez) for his first career strikeout... Made seven appearances for Tampa Bay, not allowing a run in 7.1 innings with nine strikeouts... Went 6-3 with a 3.27 ERA (24 ER/66.0 IP) and 89 strikeouts in 49 games for Triple-A Durham... His 89 strikeouts were tied for the second-most on Durham...Designated for assignment by the Rays on 9/29 and claimed off waivers on 10/1 by the Orioles.

2018

Split the season between Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron…went 8-4 with a 3.86 ERA (60.2-IP, 26-ER) and 95 SO in 47 apps, all in relief… marked the second straight year he was used exclusively as a reliever…began the season with Columbus, was transferred to Akron on July 12 and returned to the Triple-A level on Aug 4, where he finished the season…combined for 14.09 SO/9 IP and 5.59 SO/BB ratios between the two levels and struck out 49.5 pct. (46 of 93) of lefties faced.

2017

Pitched solely in relief during the year and flourished, posting a combined ERA of 2.70 in 45 outings between AA Akron and AAA Columbus (63.1IP, 59H, 19ER, 30BB, 70SO)...Began the year at Akron and was promoted to Columbus on May 17...Over his first 14 outings with the Clippers he allowed just 1 earned run in 21.1 innings (15 hits, 24 SO)...Did not allow a run over his last five games over 7.0 IP...Tossed at least 2.0 IP of relief in 8 outings with Columbus and 16 outings of at least 1.2 IP...Following the season went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 10 relief outings for Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League (9.1IP, 7H, 4ER, 9SO).