Meet a Prospect: Tyler Cloyd

The New York Yankees are stockpiling talent in their minor league system and may need to hand out triple digits at this year’s spring training camp. That’s okay, the Yankees have never been shy about being different or setting trends rather than following them, they don’t have names on the backs of their uniforms, they don’t allow their players to grow beards and they were the first to wear the pinstripes full-time on their uniforms. With this said the team added two more potential pieces to their minor league depth stockpile this week in third baseman Deibinson Romero, who we met yesterday morning as a part of Prospects Month, and today’s showcase as well. This is Meet a Prospect: The Tyler Cloyd Edition.

Tyler James Cloyd was born on May 16, 1987 and spent his college years playing baseball for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. As a member of the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks Cloyd was able to catch the attention of the Philadelphia Phillies who drafted him in the 18^th round of the 2008 MLB First Year Players Draft. Cloyd spent four not-so-notable seasons in the Phillies minor league system before finally becoming a bit of a household name in 2012, at least in many Philadelphia based households. Cloyd was expected to start the 2012 season in Double-A with the Reading Phillies but instead was bumped up to Triple-A due to a suspension and made the most of the opportunity. Cloyd pitched his way to a Triple-A All-Star Game appearance during that 2012 campaign and was also named the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher.

All that hard work paid off in 2012 when the big league Phillies called Cloy up to the show and allowed him to make his MLB debut on August 29, 2012. For you trivia buffs out there Cloyd replaced a man by the name of Cole Hamels and went on to pitch six innings allowing just three runs on seven hits. Cloyd would win his first MLB decision later that season pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds leading the team to carry him in their bullpen for the 2013 season. Cloyd made 11 starts and two relief appearances in 2013 but could not replicate his success posting just a 2-7 record with a 6.56 ERA.

Cloyd was designated for assignment after that lackluster 2013 campaign and was almost immediately claimed by the Cleveland Indians. Just a month later Cloyd was designated for assignment again and this time cleared waivers and hit the free agent market. Cloyd agreed to a new minor league deal with Cleveland two weeks later and headed down to the Indians Triple-A team the Columbus Clippers. As a member of the Clippers Cloy threw a no-hitter on July 30 in a 13-0 victory against the Louisville Bats. Apparently it’s a tough crowd to please in Cleveland though because the Indians released Cloyd on January 6 of 2015.

A mere two days later Cloyd found a new gig but he had to go a long way to get there. Cloyd signed with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization and spent the entire 2015 season in the KBO. Cloyd did enough to catch MLB’s eye while with the Lions and especially caught the eye of Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees and the team signed him to a minor league deal to kick off Prospects Month here on the blog. Now the Yankees have another weapon and another piece of depth heading into their 2016 campaign thanks to Cloyd. Welcome to the team, welcome to the organization and welcome to the family Tyler.