Collin Balester

Collin Thomas Balester (born June 6, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Collin Thomas Balester was born on June 6, 1986, in Huntington Beach, California, the son of Tom and Sally Balester.

He has two sisters, Lauren (older) and Jenna (younger).

His father runs a surfboard shop off of Slater Avenue in Huntington Beach and also makes "Balestar" surfboards, which are sold widely in surf shops..

Collin surfed regularly growing up.

Playing Little League Baseball for the Huntington Valley team, Balester threw a pitch that was recorded at 83 mph, making his father realize that his son might be a major league prospect one day.

At Huntington Beach High School, his velocity had gone down during his senior year, and scouts were saying he might be better off going to college.

Balester worked on throwing harder, responding with multiple shutouts towards the end of the season.

In his last year at Huntington Beach, he had a 6–4 record and a 1.63 earned run average (ERA), striking out 63 batters in 64 innings pitched.

Baseball America was only mildly impressed with his performance, stating that he "didn't dominate".

He won his debut as a starter, becoming the first Expo or National to do so since 1999.

That season, he went on to make 14 starts for Washington, recording a 5.51 earned run average (ERA).

He was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 2004, making his professional debut that year.

Balester was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the fourth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

On July 10, Balester signed with the Expos and was assigned to the Rookie-level GCL Expos.

In five games, he had a 1–2 win–loss record, a 2.19 ERA and a 1.014 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP).

Before the 2005 season, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Nationals.

Balester began the 2006 season with the High-A Potomac Nationals, where he got off to a bad start, going 1–3 with a 6.91 in nine starts.

On the bad start, Balester said, "It kind of has been hard. I did so well last year. I think it's going to be good for me that I am failing a little bit more so that I know how to fail. I know I can use this in the future."

He also added that, "I get way too high expectations for myself and I've got to realize I am only 19 years old."

By 2007, he was considered a top prospect for the newly relocated Nationals, with him participating in that season's All-Star Futures Game.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2008 to 2015 for the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, and Cincinnati Reds.

Balester has also played for the Samsung Lions of the KBO League.

Balester grew up in Huntington Beach, California, the son of a surfboard maker.

On July 1, 2008, he made his MLB debut with the Nationals.

In 2009, Balester split the year between the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs and Washington, making a combined 27 starts.

Balester was converted into a relief pitcher in 2010, after struggling with Syracuse at the beginning of the year.

In both 2010 and 2011, he would continue to split time between Syracuse and Washington.

Baseball America also named Balester the 10th best prospect in the Nationals organization and listed him as having the best fastball of any minor leaguer in their system.

To begin the season, Balester joined the Single-A Savannah Sand Gnats and made his debut for the club on April 11, giving up just three hits in six innings and being awarded with the win.

In a start against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on July 10, Balester allowed just one hit in eight innings of work, prompting Greensboro News & Record columnist Bill Hass to claim that, "The young right-hander [Balester] turned the Hoppers hitters into traffic cones."

On July 29, John Manuel of Baseball America mentioned Balester as a breakout player, along with infielder Kory Casto.

In 24 games for Savannah, 23 of which were starts, he went 8–6 with a 3.67 ERA, and a 1.176 WHIP.

After the season, Baseball America listed Balester as the second-best prospect in the Nationals system, behind third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

The Nationals traded Balester to Detroit on December 9, 2011, for pitcher Ryan Perry.

In 2012, Balester started the season on a major league roster for the first time in his career but was designated for assignment in May.

Signed to a minor league deal by the Texas Rangers in 2013, he underwent Tommy John surgery midway through the year.

It was not until 2015 that he would pitch in the major leagues again, this time for the Reds, with whom he had a 7.47 ERA.

He made three starts for the Lions in Korea in 2016 before elbow pain led to his release.

After one final professional season in 2017, he and his wife started the Local Roots Juice Co. in Perrysburg, Ohio.