Josh Sborz

BIOGRAPHY

Joshua Alan Sborz was born on  December 17, 1993, in Washington, DC. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

He was drafted in the 74th overall pick of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sborz pitched collegiately at the University of Virginia.

Sborz attended McLean High School in McLean, Virginia. He played for the school's baseball team as a pitcher and an infielder, and received all-state and all-Met honors twice. Additionally, he was named Group AAA state Player of the Year in 2012. Sborz committed to playing college baseball at the University of Virginia.

As a freshman with the Cavaliers, Sborz mainly pitched out of the bullpen. He made 30 appearances for Virginia, which was the 10th most in team history. Sborz joined the UVA rotation during his sophomore season and made 15 starts. He started Game 3 of the College World Series finals against Vanderbilt.

For his junior season, Sborz was moved back to the bullpen and was named the team's closer. As a result of injuries to the starting rotation, Sborz made two starts towards the end of the regular season. He ended the regular season with a 2.49 ERA and was tied with Florida State's Billy Strode for the ACC lead in saves with 12. For his accomplishments, Sborz was named to the All-ACC second-team. On May 19, 2015, he threw a one-hit shutout against Georgia Tech in an ACC Tournament play-in game. Sborz was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player following UVA's championship run in the 2015 College World Series. He recorded three wins and a save in four games; pitching 13 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, four walks and seven hits allowed.

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Sborz in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft. The Dodgers announced his signing on July 8, 2015. He was assigned to the rookie level Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League to start his career. After pitching in two games for the Raptors he was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League. He also made two starts for the Loons and was 0–1 with a 2.84 ERA leading to his promotion again, to the Advanced Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League on August 14.IIn nine relief appearances for the Quakes he allowed two runs in 12 innings. He remained with the Quakes for the start of the 2016 season and pitched in 20 games, 19 of which were starts. He was 8–4 with a 2.66 ERA and was named to the mid-season and post-season California League All-Star teams as well as the league pitcher of the year. He was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League at the end of the season and made 10 relief appearances with them, for a 3.78 ERA.

Sborz spent all of 2017 with Tulsa where he started 24 games with an 8–8 record, 3.86 ERA and 81 strikeouts. In 2018, he appeared in 46 games (all in relief) for Tulsa and AAA Oklahoma City with a 4–2 record and 3.88 ERA with six saves. The Dodgers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season. Sborz was called up to the Majors for the first time on April 14, 2019, but was optioned back to AAA on April 20 without appearing in any games.

On February 16, 2021, Sborz was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Jhan Zambrano. Over 59 innings for Texas in 2021, Sborz posted a 4–3 record with a 3.97 ERA while striking out 69 batters. Sborz split the 2022 season between Texas and the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. With Texas he posted a 1–0 record with a 6.45 ERA over 22+1⁄3 innings; with Round Rock he went 3–0 with a 1.61 ERA over 22+1⁄3 innings.

Sborz signed a one-year deal with the Rangers for the 2024 season.