CHICAGO, Ill. - During the 2016 and 2017 baseball seasons, Riley O'Brien helped The College of Idaho to consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearances and the 2017 NAIA West Tournament title.
Tonight, his appearance at Guaranteed Rate Field on the Southside made Coyote baseball history.
The right-hander made his Major League Baseball debut, earning the start in Game 1 of the Cincinnati Reds 2-game series at the Chicago White Sox.
O'Brien got All-Star Tim Anderson to ground out to start his MLB career and had strikeouts of both Eloy Jimenez and Gavin Sheets, but was lifted in the second inning after allowing solo home runs to Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada. The White Sox went on to earn a 7-1 victory before 26,242 fans.
He becomes just the second Coyote to play in the Big Leagues, joining Jason Simontacchi, who pitched three seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and one season for the Washington Nationals.
O'Brien was an eight-round pick in 2017 by the Tampa Bay Rays and was traded last summer to the Reds - spending last season at Cincinnati's alternate training site during the COVID shortened season. He spent the 2021 season with Triple-A Louisville, before joining the Reds today.
O'Brien transferred to C of I after two seasons at Everett Community College. In 2016, the righty posted a 6-3 record and a 3.23 ERA, primarily as a starter, fanning 60 men.
A year later, O'Brien started out of the Coyote pen and was outstanding – allowing just two earned runs over 11 relief appearances (26 innings) from late February to early April – striking out 36 men. He was inserted into the C of I starting rotation during the postseason, striking out 10 in a semifinal win over British Columbia and tossing eight innings of one-run ball in a victory over Mayville State at the NAIA Championships. For the season, O'Brien was 3-4 with a 2.15 ERA, walking just 23 and striking out 81 in 67 innings of work.