Oakland Ballers Sign Former Kansas City Royals Pick
The Oakland Ballers (a.k.a. B's) have added to the roster yet again, this time with right-hander and former Kansas City Royals draftee Elijah Pleasants. He was selected in the 36th round of the 2018 Draft, but did not end up signing with the Royals, instead beginning his college career with the University of Tennessee.
While in college, Pleasants was used mostly out of the bullpen with the Volunteers. Just five of his 33 games pitched came as a starter. He transferred to Dallas Baptist in 2022 and then Trevecca Nazarene in 2023 where he started all 13 of his games and tallied 76 1/3 innings with a 4.36 ERA.
He went on to pitch in the MLB Draft League with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, starting another 11 games in 13 appearances with an additional 55 innings. The results weren't quite as good as the righty held a 8.67 ERA and saw his strikeout rate plummet from 10 per nine to 6.5 per nine.
Pleasants is 23 years old and will be making his pro debut when he suits up for the Ballers this season. His birthday is also exactly one month before the team's first-ever game in Oakland on June 4 against the Yolo High Wheelers.
Home game times for the inaugural season at Raimondi Park are now released. First pitches on weekday games are scheduled for 6:35 PM and weekends at 1:05 PM. Tickets are now on sale as well as 12-pack undated tickets. Single-game ticket releases will be announced at a later date.
The Ballers also have merch available over at Oaklandish to help you get ready for the season, including black or green snapback hats, a green dad hat, sweatshirts, and t-shirts. There will be fitted hat options coming soon as well.
The team has also hinted at an announcement for Friday morning at 8:45 a.m., so be on the lookout for more Ballers news shortly!