Kris Medlen

Kristopher Allen Medlen (born October 7, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks.

As of 2023, Medlen works for Bally Sports South where he serves as an on-air analyst for Atlanta Braves baseball telecasts.

Medlen graduated from Gahr High School in Cerritos, California in 2003.

He attended El Camino College his freshman year and hit .296 with 18 RBI's as an infielder.

As a pitcher, Medlen posted a 2.84 ERA with 17 K's in 19 innings of work, leading the team with 4 saves.

Medlen redshirted the next year, before transferring to Santa Ana College.

At Santa Ana, Medlen played as the starting shortstop and hit .332 with 10 HR's and 42 RBI.

He also served as the team's closer, posting a 2.23 ERA with 16 saves, striking out 57 in 44.1 innings pitched.

Medlen was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 10th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft.

The Braves saw promise for Medlen as a relief pitcher, and drafted him with the intention of using him in the bullpen.

Medlen played his first professional baseball game on June 22, 2006, for the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League.

He appeared in 20 games for Danville, and pitched a total of 22 innings, being credited with 1 win, no losses, and 10 saves.

In those 22 innings, Medlen allowed 14 hits and only 1 earned run.

He struck out 36 batters, and allowed only 2 walks.

His ERA was 0.41 and his WHIP was 0.727.

Medlen played for three of the Braves minor league teams during 2007, progressing from the Rome Braves (single A, South Atlantic League), to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (high A, Carolina League) and ending the season with the Mississippi Braves (AA, Southern League).

His statistics for these three teams were as follows: For the Rome Braves, Medlen appeared in 17 games, logging 20.2 innings, with 33 strike-outs and 3 walks; he had an ERA of 0.87 and a WHIP of 0.774.

For the Myrtle Beach Braves, Medlen appeared in 18 games, pitching 24 innings, with 28 strike-outs and 9 walks (2 of them intentional); he had an ERA of 1.12 and a WHIP of 1.230.

For the Mississippi Braves, Medlen appeared in only 3 games, for a total of 2.1 innings.

He had 2 strike-outs and 2 walks, allowing 4 hits and 3 earned runs (for an ERA of 11.57 and a WHIP of 2.571).

Medlen spent the entire 2008 season with the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League.

He recorded 10 strike-outs in two of his starts, in a 7.0 inning start against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (on July 7, 2008), a game in which he allowed 4 hits and 1 walk, but also allowed 3 runs, and in a 6.0 inning start against the Carolina Mudcats (on August 22, 2008), a game in which he allowed 3 hits and 1 walk, but no runs.

For the season, Medlen started 17 games, with 6 wins and 5 losses.

Medlen was named Southern League pitcher of the week on July 14, 2008, after the week in which he had 10 strike-outs against the Blue Wahoos and a win against the Chattanooga Lookouts, in which he allowed 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 run over 6 innings, while striking out 6 batters.

Medlen began his major league career as a starter, making his debut on May 21, 2009, pitching just 3.0 innings, giving up 5 earned runs on 3 hits against the Colorado Rockies.

Medlen earned his first major league win on May 31, 2009, against the Arizona Diamondbacks pitching 6 innings and giving up only 1 earned run.

Medlen went to the Braves bull pen, to make room for rookie starting pitcher Tommy Hanson, and Medlen made his first appearance as a relief pitcher on June 9, 2009, when he pitched scoreless 13th, 14th and 15th innings to get a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For the 2009 season, Medlen pitched a total of 67.2 innings, gave up 65 hits and 30 walks, while striking out 72.

His record was 3 wins and 5 losses, with an ERA of 4.26.

On August 5, 2010, Medlen was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow.

It was announced by the Atlanta Braves that he would require Tommy John surgery to repair the damage, ending his season.

Medlen spent much of the 2011 season rehabbing following the surgery.

He was activated from the 60-day disabled list on September 24, 2011, and pitched in only two games.

He made 19 relief appearances from April 5 to June 1, and got his first start on June 5, 2012, against the Mobile BayBears (an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate).

Medlen began the 2012 major league season as a reliever for the Atlanta Braves, typically pitching middle innings before the Braves set-up man and closer came on for the 8th and 9th innings.

He was sent down to the Braves AAA team (the Gwinnett Braves), for the purpose of "stretching him out" to return to the majors as a starter.

He started only three games for the Gwinnett Braves, pitching 2.1, 5.0 and 6.0 innings and having a record of two losses and one "no decision".

He returned to Atlanta on June 18, 2012, and made 16 appearances in relief, from June 18, 2012, through July 25, 2012.

Medlen got his first start of the 2012 season, on July 31, 2012, against the Miami Marlins, allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run and recording the win in a 7–1 game.