2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup star Ryan Weathers the second pitcher to make MLB debut in postseason

2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup star Ryan Weathers the second pitcher to make MLB debut in postseason
07/10/2020
The left-hander was almost untouchable in the U-18 World Cup and was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Ryan Weathers pitched 1.1 innings for the San Diego Padres during the first game of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The 20-year old left-hander thus became only the second pitcher to make his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut during the postseason.

The first pitcher in history to make his MLB debut in the postseason was 23-year-old Shane McClanahan, who did it the day before.

For the record: the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres, 5-1 and the Yankees beat the Rays, 9-3.

U-18 World Cup: Home of baseball's future superstars

Weathers was on the United States National Team that won the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017 in Thunder Bay, Canada. He shut out Japan, allowing only one hit over seven innings, in the second game of round-robin play.

He then earned the win pitching 2.2 innings against Korea during the Super Round.

Weathers went back to the Loretto High School in his native Tennessee for his senior year after the tournament. He earned National Baseball Player of the Year honours with a 10-0 record and 148 strikeouts in 76 innings. His Earned Run Average (ERA) was an astounding 0.09.

The lefty standout considered a scholarship offered by Vanderbilt University. The San Diego Padres selected him seventh overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. Weathers signed for a US$ 5.2 million bonus on 1 July 2018.

The U-18 Baseball World Cup, along with its continental qualifiers, has consistently featured players who have gone on to become some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Japan’s Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani; Korea’s Shin-soo Choo; Cuba’s Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman; and Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado and Buster Posey, who all played for USA Baseball’s U-18 National Team.