Keystone grad gets call up to the big leagues

Keystone graduate Brandyn Sittinger has made it to the show.

Sittinger, a 27-year-old right-handed relief pitcher, was called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept 7.

Sittinger, who pitched collegiately at Ashland, was a 17th-round pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2016. Prior to his call-up, he’d pitched exclusively in the minors leagues and even did a stint in the Frontier League with Evansville in 2019 after being released by the Detroit organization earlier that year.

Sittinger took Tyler Clippard’s spot on the Arizona roster after Clippard was placed on the COVID-19 inactive list.

Sittinger parlayed his stay in the Frontier League into a contract with an affiliated organization. During his stint in Evansville, he caught the eye of Arizona who signed him at the end of 2019.

During the 2021 season, Sittinger, who is 6-foot-1 and weighs 200 pounds, pitched for Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno. He compiled a combined record of 1-2 with a 4.03 ERA while striking out 51 batters in 38 innings with those two clubs.

“I want to go out there right away and prove myself to the staff and coordinators of the Diamondbacks, but at the same time I have to do what I’ve always done, complete,” Sittinger told the Evansville Otters’ Twitter account, which reported his promotion to the major leagues.

Coincidentally, Sittinger’s promotion to the major league came just a day after another Lorain County pitcher called it a career.

Ryan Feierabend, a 2003 Midview-grad who had pitched for three major league teams during an 18year career, officially announced his retirement on Sept. 6. Feierabend pitched for Lake Erie this summer in the Frontier League. He had hoped to pitch well enough to get signed by an affiliated team but opted to retire when no teams came calling on the 36-year-old left-hander.

“You know it’s just really getting to that point. I had a really good year and I don’t think there is anymore I could do to get seen, to get back into affiliated. So now I figure it’s time to take the next step in my career. My plan is to get into coaching next year, hopefully. I’d love to pitch until I was 50, but I’ve got to be a realist and understand that the game is getting younger and that’s just how it is,” said Feierabend, after he pitched in the Crushers game on Sept. 6.