Josh James

Joshua James (born March 8, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros.

Joshua Edward James was born to Ivan and Tricia James on March 8, 1993, in Hollywood, Florida.

James' father, Ivan, is Puerto Rican and grew up on the island of St. Croix.

James' mother, Tricia, was born on St. Thomas.

James spent part of his childhood in the U.S. Virgin Islands along with his sister Joy.

James attended South Broward High School in Hollywood, Florida, a marine science magnet school, where he was a three-year letterman.

There, he was primarily an infielder and did not begin pitching until the age of 16.

One of his teammates at South Broward was Jose Marmolejos, who would also go on to play Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners.

In addition to baseball, James was a member of the basketball, golf, and track teams at South Broward.

He also briefly played tennis.

Prior to James' arrival at Western Oklahoma, the Pioneers had qualified for five straight NCJAA DII World Series, winning a national championship in 2011 and losing in the championship game in 2012.

Other WOSC alumni who played in MLB include Andrelton Simmons, Casey Sadler, Juan Perez, and Angel Castro.

While at Western Oklahoma, James attempted to switch back to the infielder position but was informed by his coaches that he would find more success as a pitcher.

At Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, James' coaches converted him to a pitcher exclusively, but he only pitched five innings in 2012.

He majored in Sport Management while at Barry.

After his freshman year, James decided to pursue another collegiate opportunity, citing a lack of playing time and an inability to secure a scholarship at Barry.

Though he initially was seeking a program in his home state of Florida, James eventually transferred to Western Oklahoma State College, a NJCAA DII college in Altus, Oklahoma.

He was put into contact with Western Oklahoma coach Kurt Russel through one of his former coaches in the Virgin Islands, Darren Canton.

He redshirted the 2013 season and returned as a member of the Pioneers' starting rotation in 2014, posting a 3.21 ERA and gathering 56 strikeouts in 61.2 innings.

He played college baseball at Barry University and Western Oklahoma State College before being selected in the 34th round of the 2014 MLB draft, and is best known for his fastball, which has reached 102 miles per hour.

Following the 2014 season, James committed to transferring to Lynn University, a Division II school in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Houston Astros selected James in the 34th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, with the 1,006th overall pick.

James made his professional debut in 2014 with the Greeneville Astros and spent the whole season there, going 1–3 with a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched.

His roommate in rookie ball in 2014, Ryan Thompson, complained often about James' incessant snoring, saying, "He was like a chainsaw taking down a national forest."

In 2015, he pitched with the Quad Cities River Bandits where he was 7–4 with a 2.63 ERA in 24 games (18 starts).

In 2016 he was promoted to the Lancaster JetHawks where he posted a 9–5 record and a 4.81 ERA in 23 games (19 starts), and in 2017, he went 4–8 with a 4.38 ERA in 21 games, 11 which were starts, with the Double-AA Corpus Christi Hooks.

James consulted a sleep specialist in December 2016 and was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

After he began using a CPAP machine, James said he felt "just a little bit more refreshed in the morning, a little bit more refreshed about the day, and slowly I started feeling a little bit better every day."

This translated into a gradual increase in his fastball velocity, growing from 94 to 95 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour.

After starting the 2018 season with Corpus Christi, James was promoted to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies during the season.

With the two teams he was 6–4 with a 3.23 ERA, and 171 strikeouts in 114.1 innings (13.5 per 9 innings).

James was named the Astros' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2018.

During the 2018 season, James saw a jump in his velocity, which he credited to a recent sleep apnea diagnosis.

James was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on September 1, 2018, becoming the lowest drafted pitcher in Houston Astros history to make a start for the team.

In 2018 with the Astros, he was 2–0 with a 2.35 ERA, in six games (three starts) in which he pitched 23.0 innings and struck out 29 batters.

(11.3 strikeouts per 9 innings).

James was on the American League Division Series roster but did not see any playing time against the Cleveland Indians.

In the 2018 American League Championship Series, James pitched 4.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs and striking out 7.

In game 4 of the 2018 ALCS, James recorded his highest velocity fastball, clocking in at 102.4 miles per hour and striking out Rafael Devers.