Dane Dunning

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Dane Anthony Dunning

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Dane Dunning was drafted twice, first in 2013 by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 37th round when he was coming out of high school and already had a strong commitment to attend the University of Florida. The second time was by the Washington Nationals in the supplemental 1st round of the 2016 amateur draft, with the 29th overall pick. The pick was compensation for the Nats losing Ian Desmond to free agency. This time, he did sign.

Dane began his professional career with the GCL Nationals, but after only one start was promoted to the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League. In 8 starts he was 3-2, 2.02 with 23 Ks in 35 2/3 innings. His stay in the Nationals organization was brief, however, as on December 8th, he joined two other top-rank pitching prospects, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez - in heading to the Chicago White Sox in return for CF Adam Eaton. He missed the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March.

He made his debut with the White Sox on August 19, 2020. He was facing the Detroit Tigers and another pitcher making his debut in Casey Mize. It was only the second match-up of first-rounders making their debut since the start of the amateur draft in 1965, the other instance having been Ricky Romero facing off against Rick Porcello in 2009. Both pitchers put up a similar pitching line: 4 1/3 innings, 3 runs allowed, and 7 strikeouts. In 7 starts for the White Sox, he went 2-0, 3.97, pitching 34 innings and striking out 35 batters. He started Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Oakland Athletics on October 1st, but in what was seemingly a premeditated move, he did not even complete the 1st inning as after recording two outs and putting a couple of runners on base, he gave way to Garrett Crochet who struck out Matt Olson to end the inning. This was the first domino in a sequence that saw Crochet leave the game the next inning with what looked at the time like a serious injury, and the White Sox blow a 3-0 lead to lose the game, 6-4, and the series, 2 games to 1, costing manager Rick Renteria and pitching coach Don Cooper their jobs. Following the season, on December 7th, Dane was one of two young pitchers, alongside Avery Weems, to be traded to the Texas Rangers in return for veteran starting pitcher Lance Lynn.

Dunning pitched for the Rangers for five seasons, from 2021 to 2025. For the first three of these, he was a starter and reached his peak in 2023 when he went 12-7, 3.70 in 35 games, including 26 starts, and pitched 172 2/3 innings. He led the team in innings and was tied with Nathan Eovaldi for wins. His 140 strikeouts were third behind Andrew Heaney and Jon Gray and also represented a career high. The Rangers made it to the postseason that year and Dane pitched out of the bullpen, making a stint of over two innings each time in both the Division Series and the ALCS. In the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he pitched a total of 2 1/3 innings in relief over three games, not giving up a run on 3 hits and 1 walk and he won a ring as the Rangers triumphed over Arizona in five games. His final two seasons in Texas were rough ones though, as he fell to 5-7, 5.31 in 26 games in 2024, then was outrighted to the AAA Round Rock Express at the start of the 2025 season. He was called up to Arlington three times in the first half and ended up making five appearances, all in relief, while going 2-1, 4.47 in 12 games as a starter in the minors. On July 17th, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in return for reliever José Ruiz, who had just been claimed off waivers by the Braves.

He is the brother of Jake Dunning. Their mother is from South Korea (their parents met when his father was stationed there with the U.S. military) and he accepted an invitation to play for the South Korean national team at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Michael Clair: "He grew up between two cultures, and now is repping his mom with Team Korea", mlb.com, March 12, 2026. [1]
  • Theo DeRosa: "Rangers trade Dunning to Atlanta for pitcher José Ruiz", mlb.com, July 17, 2025. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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