Clayton Blackburn

Clayton Blackburn

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 230 lb.
• High School Edmond Santa Fe High School
• Born January 6, 1993 in Amarillo, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Clayton Blackburn played in the minor leagues from 2011 to 2017. Though he spent three full seasons at Triple-A (winning an ERA title), he never played in a major league game -- though he spent a few days on a major league roster.

He was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 16th round of the 2011 amateur draft, a couple picks ahead of pitcher Branden Pinder. He was signed by scout Daniel Murray. In his first pro season, he went 3-1 with a 1.08 ERA in 12 games (6 starts) for the AZL Giants and in 2012, he went 8-4 with a 2.54 ERA in 22 starts for the Augusta GreenJackets. In 131 1/3 innings, he had a South Atlantic League-leading 143 strikeouts and walked only 18 batters. His performance prompted Baseball Prospectus to rank him the #95 prospect in the game going into the 2013 season, between pitcher Tyrell Jenkins and infielder Dorssys Paulino. For the San Jose Giants that year, he went 7-5 with a 3.65 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 138 batters in 133 innings. He was a Baseball America Low Class A All-Star. 2014 was split between the AZL Giants (2 starts) and Richmond Flying Squirrels (18 starts), and he went 5-7 with a 3.31 ERA between them. He earned a spot in the Arizona Fall League, going 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 6 relief appearances for the Scottsdale Scorpions.

He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2015 and remained at that level for the rest of his career. With the Sacramento River Cats, he went 10-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 23 games (20 starts). He led the 2015 PCL in ERA, .1 ahead of Carlos Pimentel. In 2016, back with Sacramento, he went 7-10 with a 4.36 ERA in 25 games (23 starts). He began 2017 with Sacramento, making just one start. On April 16, he was traded to the Texas Rangers for infielder Frandy De La Rosa and cash. On July 31, the Rangers recalled him, adding him to the major league roster. He didn't get into a game and was optioned back to the minors on August 3, making him a phantom major leaguer. He went 6-2 with a 4.97 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) on the season. During spring training 2018, he injured his elbow, requiring Tommy John surgery, thus missing the whole year. He was granted free agency following the campaign. The Cincinnati Reds signed him in December, but released him in July 2019; he retired July 18.

Overall, Blackburn went 46-33 with a 3.46 ERA in 145 games (133 starts). In 751 innings, he allowed 715 hits and 169 walks (1.177 WHIP), while striking out 684 batters. At Triple-A, he was 23-16 with a 4.00 ERA in 68 games (62 starts). He was a competent hitter, batting .202/.268/.303 with 1 home run and 9 RBI in 66 at-bats.

He was frequently named among the Giants top prospects. In 2012, Baseball America ranked him their #21 prospect, and in 2013, he was ranked the #6 prospect (between Mike Kickham and Heath Hembree). In 2014, he was ranked #10 and in 2015, he was ranked #5 (between Keury Mella and Adalberto Mejia). In 2016, Baseball America ranked him #8 (between Aramis Garcia and Jarrett Parker) and MLB Pipeline ranked him #12. In 2017, Baseball America ranked him #23.