Will Klein
William Boone Klein
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 5", Weight 230 lb.
- School Eastern Illinois University
- High School Bloomington North High School
- Debut April 28, 2024
- Born November 28, 1999 in Bloomington, IN USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Pitcher Will Klein was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 5th round of the truncated 2020 amateur draft, out of Eastern Illinois University. He was only 3-4 in three seasons at EIU, the last of these cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he had established himself as a prospect to watch in the Northwoods League in 2019, when he posted an ERA of 0.86 in 16 games while recording 7 saves for the Lakeshore Chinooks.
He made his professional debut in 2021 with the Quad Cities River Bandits of the High-A Central, as the Midwest League was called that season following the Minor League Reorganization, going 7-1, 3.20 in 36 games as a reliever. He saved 4 games and had a whopping 121 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings to be named a Royals organizational All-Star. In 2022, he had a rougher go with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the AA Texas League, going 1-1, 10.51 in 30 games. He completely lost his control, walking 51 batters in 43 2/3 innings, in addition to 55 hits, while recording 55 strikeouts. He bounced back in 2023, however, going 0-2, 3.38 in 21 games for the Naturals, and 1-3, 5.66 in another 28 games for the Omaha Storm Chasers of the International League. His K/W ratio showed marked improvement over the previous season ending up at 93/39 in 64 1/3 innings. He was named to participate in the 2023 Futures Game.
He started the 2024 season in AAA with Omaha and had not given up a run in 11 innings over 9 outings when he got the call to Kansas City at the end of April. He made his debut on April 28th when he pitched a scoreless inning in relief against the Detroit Tigers, striking out two batters. Following that season, he was first acquired by the Seattle Mariners but did not pitch for them at the major league level before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 2nd in return for Joe Jacques. He went 1-1, 2.35 in 14 games for the Dodgers but was originally left off their postseason roster until Alex Vesia had to leave the team before the start of the World Series due to a personal matter. He was one of the heroes of L.A.'s epic win in Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays on October 27th, as he pitched the final four inning of their 6-5 win that night. He came on in the 15th inning after the Dodgers had emptied their bullpen in the marathon contest which tied a World Series record for most innings. What was the longest outing of his career lasted until Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off homer off Brendon Little in the bottom of the 18th inning. He gave up just 1 hit and 2 walks in his long stretch on the mound, striking out five opponents.
Klein is a Democrat and has expressed support for former president Barack Obama as well as 2024 election candidate Kamala Harris on his social media.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- Won one World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025
Further Reading[edit]
- AJ Cassavell: "'We weren't losing that game': How Klein became hero in marathon G3", mlb.com, October 28, 2025. [1]
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