Ryne Harper

BIOGRAPHY

Ryne Richard Harper was born on March 27, 1989, in Clarksville, Tennessee. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Harper attended Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. He played college baseball at Austin Peay State. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 37th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft.

In his debut season of 2011, he played for the GCL Braves and the Danville Braves, going a combined 3-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 30.1 innings. He split the 2012 season between the Rome Braves and the Lynchburg Hillcats, going a combined 2-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 69.1 innings. His 2013 season was spent with the Mississippi Braves, going 6-3 with a 2.77 ERA in 55.1 innings. In 2014, he once again spent the season with the Mississippi Braves, going 9-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 76.2 innings. After the 2014 regular season, Harper played for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League. He split the 2015 season between the Rome Braves and the Mississippi Braves, combining to go 0-1 with a 2.04 ERA in 35.1 innings. During the 2015 off-season, Harper played for the Cañeros de Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific Winter League.

On December 11, 2015, Harper was sent to the Seattle Mariners to complete an earlier trade for José Ramírez. In 2016, Harper was signed by Arizona in offseason, where he spent the year with Double-A Jackson. He made 42 relief appearances for the Generals, and among Southern League relievers, he led the league in strikeouts-per-9.0 innings and fewest baserunners-per-9.0-innings. He also ranked among Southern League pitchers in appearances, strikeouts, and saves, averaging 12.57 strikeouts per 9.0 innings. In 2017, he signed with Seattle in the offseason and spent most of the season with Triple-A Tacoma and four games for Double-A Arkansas in late August. 13 of his first 16 appearances for the Rainiers were scoreless, posting a 1.80 ERA in those games. He held left-handed batters to a .179 average and right-handed batters to a .257 average. In the 2018 season, Harper spent his first season in Twins organization after signing a minor league contract on January 31. He began the season with Double-A Chattanooga and split the first month with the Lookouts and Triple-A Rochester, making four appearances at each spot during the month, posting a 2.34 ERA with four saves in 20 games from early May-late July at Chattanooga before being promoted back to Rochester where he finished the season. Harper was named Southern League Midseason All-Star with Lookouts. He combined to go 1-5, with 10 walks, 86 strikeouts and six saves in 38 games between Chattanooga and Rochester. He held left-handed batters to a .181 average and right-handers to a .294 average. 

In 2019, Harper was given a non-roster invitation to major-league spring training. Harper made the Twins' Opening Day roster out of spring training. He made his major league debut on March 31, 2019, versus the Cleveland Indians, recording one scoreless inning of relief. He got his first career save on May 28, 2019, against the Milwaukee Brewers.

On August 24, 2019, the Twins assigned Harper to the AAA Rochester Red Wings. He finished 4-1 with an ERA of 3.81 in 61 games for Minnesota.

Harper was designated for assignment by the Twins on January 24, 2020. He was traded to the Washington Nationals five days later for minor league pitcher Hunter McMahon.