Timothy Christopher Byrdak is a professional baseball player from the United States of America and specializes in playing a relief pitcher’s role. Byrdak went to Rice University however, at the 1994 Amateur Draft, he was picked in the 5th round by the Kansas City Royals and decided to sign with the team.
Playing and rising through the minor leagues, within four short years, Byrdak made his professional debut in 1998 for the Kansas City Royals. Playing just 3 games in his first season, Byrdak never became a part of the starting rotation and was always shuttling between the minor leagues and the major league rosters. In his three years with the Royals, Byrdak only played 48 games and had ERAs of 5.40, 7.66 and 11.37 during each of those three seasons.
Never quite looking the part, Byrdak was traded out to the Baltimore Orioles where he was, again, shunted into the minor league structure. Looking like he needed the practice, Byrdak came out at the other end of the minor league stint with a roster place for the 2005 season.
| Team |
Houston Astros
|
| Position | Pitcher |
| Born | 31 Oct 1973 |
| Nationality |
United States
|
| Team History | |
|
Houston Astros
|
2008 - present |
Detroit Tigers
|
2007 |
Baltimore Orioles
|
2001 - 2006 |
Kansas City Royals
|
1998 - 2000 |
41 games and a much-respectable 4.05 ERA were the highlight of a season that was plagued by injury. The following year, Byrdak just managed to squeeze in 16 games although he didn’t impress much to keep his place on the roster and the Orioles traded him out to the Detroit Tigers.
By the time Byrdak got to the Tigers, he had developed a forkball that gave him another pitching option, considerably improving his ERA and win-loss record. Although he played just 39 games, Byrdak had a 3-0 record and an ERA of 3.20 during his Tigers’ tenure.
In 2008, Byrdak was traded out to the Houston Astros where he has considerably improved upon his contribution and appearances. He played out 2008 at an ERA of 3.90 with a 2-1 record while in 2009, although Byrdak has a 1-2 record, he has an ERA of 3.23 in 61.1 innings pitched, the most he has ever in a single season.
