Cam Sanders

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Cameron Ronald Sanders

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Cam Sanders is the son of major leaguer Scott Sanders and was born in San Diego, CA when his father was pitching for the San Diego Padres, although he grew up in Thibodaux, LA. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 2018 amateur draft, out of Louisiana State University. One year earlier, in the 2017 amateur draft, he had been drafted by the Padres in the 18th round after completing his second season of junior college at Northwest Florida State College.

In his first professional season in 2018, he split time between the AZL Cubs 2 and the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, going 1-2, 4.32 in 16 games, all in relief. In 2019, he was 8-4, 2.94, in 21 games, 20 if them starts, for the South Bend Cubs of the Midwest League. He was named a mid-season All-Star. He then had to sit out the 2020 season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the minor leagues then returned to action in 2021 with the Tennessee Smokies of what was called the Double-A South that year, having skipped a level. He was 4-7, 5.32 in 18 starts, but did much better in his second go-round with the same team the next season, in what was once again the Southern League, going 1-1, 3.38 in 6 starts. In May, he moved up to the Iowa Cubs of the AAA International League but had more difficulties the rest of the way, going 1-8, 5.45 in 29 games, including 11 starts. Still, in 98 1/3 innings between the two levels, he struck out 111 batters, and it looked like the Cubs would look at him as a reliever going forward.

On March 3, 2023, as a non-roster invitee with the Cubs, he was one of seven pitchers - and the only one without any major league experience - to combine on the first spring training no-hitter since 2017, a 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres. He struck out two batters in the 8th inning after taking over for Justin Steele, Javier Assad, Brad Boxberger, Adbert Alzolay and Jeremiah Estrada, keeping the no-hitter alive, before turning the ball over to Nick Burdi who completed the feat. He spent the entire 2023 season in AAA with Iowa, going 7-2, 5.15 in 51 games. In 2024, he struggled badly at Iowa, with an ERA of 7.79 in 30 games, but did a lot better in AA with Tennessee where his ERA was 2.91 in 19 games.

In 2025, he signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 21st and began the season in AA with the Altoona Curve. After going 2-0, 1.90 with 9 saves in 18 games, he was promoted to the AAA Indianapolis Indians on June 10th. He continued to pitch well there, going 2-1, 1.93 in 15 games. On August 5th, the Pirates selected his contract and he made his big league debut that same day, pitching two scoreless innings of relief in an 8-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Called up when Johan Oviedo was demoted, he relieved Braxton Ashcraft in the 8th. He got Patrick Bailey on a fly, whiffed Christian Koss, walked Heliot Ramos and fanned Rafael Devers. In the 9th, Willy Adames singled but Sanders got Matt Chapman, Dominic Smith and Jerar Encarnacion in order to close it out.

His father is not the only athlete in the family. His mother, Linda, was an All-American softball shortstop at Long Beach State University who played in two Women's College World Series.

Related Sites[edit]

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