American baseball player (born 1998)
Hunter Bradford Bigge (born June 12, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. He made his MLB debut in 2024 with the Cubs.
Career.
Chicago Cubs.
Bigge attended Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, California, and Harvard University, where he played college baseball for the Harvard Crimson. Bigge played collegiate summer baseball in the Northwoods League, where his fastball reached .
The Chicago Cubs selected Bigge in the 12th round, with the 372nd overall pick, of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Cubs rather than start an internship with BlackRock. In his first professional season, Bigge logged a 1.13 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 9 games for the rookie–level Arizona League Cubs and Low–A Eugene Emeralds. Bigge worked for a financial startup after the minor league season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
In 2021, Bigge made 17 appearances for the High–A South Bend Cubs, logging a 5.66 ERA with 29 strikeouts over ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;20+2⁄3 innings pitched. He missed playing time during the season as the result of a torn labrum. Bigge split the 2022 campaign between South Bend and the Double–A Tennessee Smokies, accumulating a 7–2 record and 5.26 ERA with 70 strikeouts and 10 saves in 41 games. In 2023, he played for Tennessee and the Triple–A Iowa Cubs, compiling a 4.50 ERA with 68 strikeouts across 42 appearances out of the bullpen.
Bigge began the 2024 campaign with Triple–A Iowa. On July 7, 2024, the Cubs selected Bigge to the 40-man roster and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut on July 9, and recorded a 2.70 ERA with 5 strikeouts in 4 games.
Tampa Bay Rays.
On July 28, 2024, the Cubs traded Bigge, Christopher Morel, and Ty Johnson to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Isaac Paredes.
References.
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