Tommy Milone

BIOGRAPHY

Tommy Milone was born February 16, 1987, in Santa Clarita, California. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Milone attended Saugus High School, where he was a standout as a pitcher and hitter. Milone won All-State honors twice, and was the Foothill Player of the Year his senior season, in which he hit .474 and threw a perfect game, finishing the year with a 9-2 record and a 1.04 ERA. Milone then attended the University of Southern California, playing for the USC Trojans baseball team and pursued a degree in public policy and development. As a freshman, Milone was named the number two starter in the rotation and went 7-4 with a 4.94 ERA in 16 starts. His junior season would prove to be his best, Milone went 6-6 with a 3.51 ERA and was the number one starter in the rotation. In 2007, Milone played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Chatham A's, winning the B.F.C. Whitehouse Award, given to the best pitcher in the league, after finishing the summer 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA.

Milone was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 10th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.

Milone made his major league debut on September 3, 2011, against the New York Mets. Milone struck out Angel Pagan of the New York Mets for his first career strikeout. Later in the same game, he hit a three-run home run on the first pitch of his first Major League at bat, becoming the 27th player, and only the eighth pitcher, in major league history to do so. He left the game after pitching four and one-third innings.

Milone's four-seam fastball ranges from 85–87 mph, and he complements it with a cutter at the same speed, a curveball (75–79), and changeup (79–81), as well as a rare two-seam fastball. Milone's repertoire against left-handed hitters tends to be fastball-cutter-curveball, while against right-handers it is fastball-changeup-cutter. He uses his changeup heavily in 2-strike counts against righties. His curve is his best swing-and-miss pitch with a whiff rate of about 33%

On April 1, 2022, Milone signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners. He was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers to start the 2022 season. On June 18, he was selected to the major league roster.