| Locke St. John | |
| Team: | Free agent |
| Position: | Relief pitcher |
| Birth Date: | 31 January 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Pell City, Alabama, U.S. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | June 25 |
| Debutyear: | 2019 |
| Debutteam: | Texas Rangers |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | 2022 season |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss record |
| Stat1value: | 0–0 |
| Stat2label: | Earned run average |
| Stat2value: | 7.27 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 9 |
| Teams: | |
Kenton Locke St. John (born January 31, 1993) is an American professional baseball relief pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs.
St. John attended Pell City High School in Pell City, Alabama.[1] He played college baseball at Southern Union Community College for two years and then transferred to the University of South Alabama for one season.[2] He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round, with the 970th overall selection, of the 2014 MLB draft.[3]
St. John spent the 2014 through 2017 seasons in the Tigers organization.[4] During his time with them, he played for the GCL Tigers, Connecticut Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and Lakeland Flying Tigers.[5] [4] During the 2017 season, he converted from a conventional over the top pitcher, into a side-armer.[4]
On December 14, 2017, St. John was selected by the Texas Rangers in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.[6] He split the 2018 season between the Down East Wood Ducks of the High–A Carolina League and the Frisco RoughRiders Double–A Texas League, going a combined 6–3 with a 2.67 ERA in innings.[7] [4] He opened the 2019 season back with Frisco,[8] and on June 6 he was promoted to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League.[4] Between the two affiliates, St. John went 5–4 with a 4.38 ERA in 48 innings.
On June 20, 2019, St. John had his contract selected and he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[9] He made his major league debut on June 25, retiring the two batters he faced.[10] On September 1, St. John was designated for assignment after posting a 5.40 ERA and 5 strikeouts over innings.[11] He was removed from the 40–man roster and was sent outright to Nashville on September 3.[12]
St. John did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.[14]
On January 4, 2021, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers.[15] Over 36 games for the Toledo Mud Hens in 2021, he posted a 2.58 ERA.
On November 29, 2021, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.[16] He was assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs to begin the season, posting a 5.14 ERA across five appearances. On April 16, 2022, the Cubs selected St. John's contract.[17] St. John appeared in 1 game for Chicago, but surrendered 3 runs off of 2 home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was designated for assignment on May 3 following the promotion of Robert Gsellman.[18]
On May 10, 2022, St. John was claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs by the New York Mets, who designated him for assignment. The team opened up a spot on the 40-man roster for St. John when Jacob deGrom was transferred to the 60-day IL.[19] He didn’t appear in a major league game for New York before he was designated for assignment on June 26. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets on July 1.[20] He spent the remainder of the season with Syracuse, struggling to a 2-5 record and 6.00 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 42.0 innings pitched across 29 appearances. On October 14, St. John elected to become a free agent.
On February 3, 2023, St. John signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins organization.[21] St. John was released by the organization on March 24.[22]