Cole RJ Irvin…married to wife Kristen…originally selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign, instead attending the University of Oregon…earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a senior in 2016 after going 6-4 with a 3.17 ERA (37 ER/105.0 IP) in 17 appearances (15 GS), striking out 93 while walking only 16…his grandfather, Roy Irvin, played basketball at the University of Southern California from 1952-54, making the Final Four in 1954.
2025
Spent the season in the KBO with the Doosan Bears, finishing second to former Dodger Zach Logue in starts, innings and strikeouts...Struck out nine batters for Doosan in 6.1 shutout innings vs. the KT Wiz on Aug. 24…was one of seven starts when he went at least five innings without allowing more than one earned run.
2023
Acquired by the O's in a trade with Oakland on 1/26...Made the Opening Day roster and began the year in the starting rotation with the big-league club. Had four stints with the Orioles after being optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on 4/14, 5/21 and 9/13. Recalled from the Tides on 5/16, 6/10 and 10/1...Owned a 1-4 record with a 4.81 ERA (31 ER/58.0 IP) in 12 starts and pitched to a 3.26 ERA (7 ER/19.1 IP) in 12 relief appearances with the O’s...Made his first relief outing of the season on 5/20 at TOR, allowing one hit in 0.1 inning...Marked his first appearance out of the ‘pen since 8/21/20 at ATL w/PHI...Did not allow more than one earned run in five straight starts from 6/26-8/19, the longest such streak of his career...Kept opponents in the yard in a career-high four straight starts from 6/26-8/12...Tossed a career-high 4.0 innings of relief on 7/18 vs. LAD...Last pitched for Norfolk in Game 2 of the International League Championship Series on 9/27 vs. Durham. Tossed 3.0 scoreless innings with two hits and five strikeouts...Did not appear on Baltimore's ALDS roster.
2022
Set career highs in innings pitched (181.0) and strikeouts (128) and tied his career high with 15 quality starts (also 2021)...Led the A's in strikeouts, innings pitched, starts (30), quality starts and wins (nine), and ranked second among A’s pitchers in fWAR (1.4)...Went 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA (36 ER/105.2 IP) in 17 home starts, compared to 4-8 with a 5.26 ERA (44 ER/75.1 IP) in 13 road starts...Made his season debut against his former team on 4/9 at PHI (L, 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 HR, BB, HB, 4 K)...Spent time on the Injured List (left shoulder soreness) from 5/2-22 and made one rehab start with Low-A Stockton; had gone 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA (9 ER/27.2 IP) in five starts before being placed on the Injured List...Had his best month of the season in July, going 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA (7 ER/34.0 IP) and 22 strikeouts and just three walks in five starts...Struck out a career-high 11 batters on 8/24 vs. MIA; marked his first career game with double-digit strikeouts...His 14.4 pitches per inning were the second-fewest in the American League, while his 1.79 BB/9 ratio ranked sixth-best among qualified AL hurlers; his 4.9 percent walk rate ranked in the 89th percentile of MLB, per Statcast...Went 6-3 with a 2.76 ERA (27 ER/88.0 IP) in 14 starts on four days' rest, compared to 3-10 with a 5.13 ERA (53 ER/93.0 IP) in 16 starts on five days' rest or more.
2021
Was acquired by the A’s from Philadelphia for cash considerations on Jan. 30 and went 10- 15 with a 4.24 ERA in 32 starts after going 2-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 19 games, including three starts, in two seasons with the Phillies...His 15 losses were the most in the American League, tied for third most in the majors and matched the most by an A’s pitcher over the last 13 years (Jesse Chavez, 2015)…is the first Athletic to lead the league in losses since Tom Candiotti in 1998...Tied for the AL lead in games started and ranked 10th in innings pitched (178.1)...Had a .281 opponents batting average and his 195 hits allowed were the most in the AL and second most in the majors…his 94 runs were fifth most in the AL and his nine hit batters tied for 10th most...However, walked just 42 batters in 178.1 innings and his average of 2.12 walks per nine innings was eighth lowest in the AL…walked two batters or fewer in 29 of his 32 starts…had five starts with no walks and 16 with one…has walked just 56 batters in 223.2 career innings (2.25 per nine innings)...Averaged 15.0 pitches per inning, which was the fewest in the AL and fourth fewest in the majors...Struck out just 125 batters and his average of 6.31 strikeouts per nine innings was third lowest in the AL and the majors...Allowed 23 home runs and ranked seventh in the AL in fewest home runs per nine innings (1.16)...Went 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA and .868 OPS over his first two starts, 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA and .586 OPS over his next six starts from April 17 to May 15, 2-3 with a 5.17 ERA and .820 OPS over a seven-start stretch from May 20 to June 22, 3-3 with a 2.44 ERA and .522 OPS over a seven start span from June 27 to Aug. 7 and 2-5 with a 6.38 ERA and .950 OPS over his final 10 starts...His opponents batting average broke down to .270 (143-for-530) with a .739 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .289 (52-for-180) with a .767 OPS against left-handers… surrendered 18 of his 23 home runs to righties…17 of the home runs were solo shots...Allowed a .324 average with runners in scoring position, which was the highest in the majors and fifth highest in Oakland history…now has a .335 career opponents average with RISP...Went 4-12 with a 5.29 ERA in 19 starts against AL West competition, 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA in 13 starts against everyone else…his 12 intradivision losses matched the most in the majors over the last 34 years (last: Porcello, BOS in 2017) and are an Athletics record, topping the previous mark of 11 by Brian Kingman (1980) and Rick Langford (1977 and 1979)…his 5.29 intradivision ERA was fourth highest in the majors this year…went 0-5 with an 8.69 ERA in five starts against Seattle and is 0-3 with a 7.40 ERA in four starts against Houston...Was 1-10 with a 6.60 ERA and .890 OPS in 12 starts on four days rest compared to 9-4 with a 2.84 ERA and .657 OPS in 19 starts on five days rest or more…led the majors in losses and highest ERA on four days rest and had the second highest OPS…tied for third in the AL in wins on five days rest or more, ranked fourth in ERA and sixth in OPS...Was 6-7 with a 3.84 ERA in 15 starts at night compared to 4-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 starts during the day…tied for the most starts during the day in the majors and ranked second in most losses…the losses are the most by an A’s pitcher during the day since Tom Candiotti also had 8 in 1998…however, had a .718 opponents OPS during the day, .779 at night...Opponents hit .440 with a 1.462 OPS when putting his curveball in play…the OPS was the highest in the majors among pitchers with 75 or more curveballs...Had 20 assists, which tied for sixth most among AL pitchers...The A’s were 4-3 in his no decisions and went 14-18 (.438) in his starting assignments...Left with the lead only to have the pen blow the save in five of his starts...Went 10-3 in 18 starts with more than two runs of support, 0-12 in 14 starts with support of two runs or fewer...Was on the A’s Opening Day roster and lost each of his first two starts, allowing four runs in each contest for a 7.45 ERA…did not pitch again until April 17 against Detroit when he combined with Wendelken, Guerra and Weems on a five-hit shutout in a 7-0 win…it was his first win since May 17, 2019 against Colorado and it snapped a career-high four-game losing streak…that began a four-start stretch where he went 3-1 with a 1.42 ERA and .232 opponents batting average through May 4…tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in his start against the Tigers and then blanked the Orioles over the first five innings on April 23 for a career-high 11.0 inning scoreless streak…lost on April 28 at Tampa Bay but then picked up his third win on May 4 against Toronto…had career highs in innings pitched (8.0), strikeouts (9) and pitches (102) against the Blue Jays…then went 0-4 with a 5.40 ERA and .284 opponents batting average over his next five starts from May 9 to 30…the losing streak matched his career high (also May 22, 2019-April 8, 2021)…left with a 4-1 lead on May 15 at Minnesota but the pen allowed four runs in the eighth inning for the blown save…it was the first of five times the pen blew a save in one of his starts (June 11 vs. Kansas City, July 9 at Texas, Aug. 13 at Texas, Sept. 11 vs. Texas)…allowed a career-high 10 hits in 4.2 innings of work in a 4-3 loss to Seattle on May 25…went 1-4 with a 4.46 ERA in six starts in May…tied for second in the AL in losses in May… then compiled a 3-0 record and a 2.64 ERA in five starts in the month of June…the ERA was fourth lowest in the AL and the three-game winning streak was the longest of his career… allowed a run in the first inning on June 5 at Colorado and did not allow another run until the seventh inning of his next start on June 11 against Kansas City for a career-high tying 11.0-inning scoreless streak…tossed a career-high tying 8.0 innings and did not allow a run in a 6-2 win at San Francisco on June 27…did not allow a run over the first three innings of his next start on July 3 against Boston for another 11.0-inning scoreless streak…tied an Oakland record with three hit batters (13th time, last: Bassitt, April 29, 2021 at Tampa Bay) in a 3-2 loss at Texas on July 9…finished July with a 1-3 record despite a 3.07 ERA and .227 opponents batting average…had walked just 25 batters in 135.1 innings over his first 23 starts (1.66 per nine innings) before walking a career-high four batters in a 5-4 victory at Chicago (AL) on Aug. 19…it snapped a season-opening streak of 23 consecutive starts with two walks or fewer, which was the second longest streak by a starting pitcher in Oakland history to Gil Heredia, who had a 26-start streak from April 10-Aug. 28, 1999…that started a season-ending stretch where he issued 17 free passes over his final 43.0 innings and nine starts (3.56 per nine innings)…had surrendered just 12 home runs over his first 25 starts and 144.1 innings (0.75 per nine innings)…then allowed three home runs in a game for the first time in his career on Aug. 31 at Detroit to begin a season-ending stretch where he allowed 11 home runs in seven starts and 34.0 innings (2.91 per nine innings)…finished August 2-2 in five starts but had a 4.91 ERA, which was his highest single-month ERA in 2021 before going 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA in five starts in September…allowed a career-high tying seven runs (May 22, 2019 at Chicago-NL) in a career-low 2.1 innings in an 8-0 loss at Toronto on Sept. 5…yielded a career-high tying three home runs in his final start on Oct. 3 at Houston.
2020
Had two stints with Philadelphia and was 0-1 with a 17.18 ERA in three relief appearances…opponents went 11-for-21 (.524) but he walked just one and struck out four in 3.2 innings…allowed a .438 (7-for-16) average against right-handed hitters compared to .800 (4-for-5) against lefthanders…was 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in four spring training appearances…was optioned to LehighValley March 26 but was recalled on July 23 and was on the Phillies Opening Day roster…madehis 2020 debut on July 26 against Miami and allowed four runs on five hits in an inning of relief and was the losing pitcher in an 11-6 decision…tossed a scoreless inning of relief Aug. 9 against Atlanta but was optioned to Philadelphia’s alternate site on Aug. 9…was recalled for a second time Aug. 20, pitched the next day at Atlanta (1.2 ip, 4 h, 3 r, 3 er, 1 bb, 3 so) and was optioned Aug. 22…did not pitch the remainder of the season.
2019
Began season with Lehigh Valley (AAA) and had his contract selected by PHI on 5/12 ... Made his ML debut, 5/12 at KC, 13 years to the day after Cole Hamels made his ML debut - they are the only two "Coles" to ever play for the Phillies ... Allowed five hits and one walk in both of his first two career starts, becoming the first Phillie since the current mound distance was established in 1893 to allow five or fewer hits and one or no walks in each of his first two career games (both starts) ... Overall, had five different stints with the Phillies ... Recorded his first career save (and first pro save at any level) on 7/19 at PIT (2.0 IP) ... Named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week, 8/19-25 ... Walked one or none in 14 of his 16 ML outings and 12 of 17 in the minors, averaging 1.80 BB/9.0 IP (27 BB, 135.1 IP) between the two levels ... In his final stint with PHI in September, posted a 0.73 ERA (1 ER, 12.1 IP), held opponents to a .190/.244/.214 slash line and averaged only 12.3 pitches per inning.
2018
Spent season with Lehigh Valley...Selected as the International League Most Valuable Pitcher and an IL midseason and postseason All-Star...Selected as a Baseball America triple-A All-Star...Led the IL in ERA (2.57), WHIP (1.05) & wins (14), was 2nd in innings (161.1), 3rd in strikeouts (131) and T-4th in starts (25)...Also led all Phillies minor leaguers in innings and wins...Named IL Pitcher of the Week, 5/7-13 and 6/4-10 and Phillies Minor League Co-Pitcher of the Week, 5/7-13...Struck out 10 batters in 5.0 IP in his first start of the season, 4/9 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...Went 7-2 with a 2.17 ERA (18 ER, 74.2 IP) from May-June...Tossed a shutout on 8/1 at Buffalo...Went 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA (6 ER, 38.1 IP) in August...Allowed 1 ER or none in 14 of his 25 starts.
2017
Began the season with Clearwater (A)...Selected as a Florida State League midseason All-Star...Named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week, 6/19-25...Promoted to Reading (AA) on 6/28 for the remainder of the season...Had a professional-high 10 strikeouts, 7/20 vs Erie (6.1 IP)...Held LHH to a .148 AVG with Reading...Posted a 3.25 ERA (29 ER, 80.1 IP) in 12 of his 13 starts with Reading; allowed 9 ER in 4.0 IP in the other start...Pitched at least 6.0 innings in 19 of his combined 24 starts.
2016
Began his professional career with Single-A Williamsport…allowed two earned runs or fewer in all seven starts and did not allow a run in each of his three relief appearances…participated in Florida Instructional League.
