Tyler Spurlin

Tyler Matthew Spurlin (born June 17, 1991) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He spent seven seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league system and reached Double-A.^[1][2][3]

Amateur career

Spurlin was born in The Woodlands, Texas, and graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2009.^[1][4] Rice University's roster biography says that as a senior he batted .465 with 12 home runs and an area-leading 54 runs batted in. He was named first-team all-state, the Houston Chronicle's 2009 first-team All-Greater Houston first baseman and an honorable mention Louisville Slugger High School All-American by Collegiate Baseball.^[4]

At Rice University he was used both as a hitter and as a pitcher. In 2010 he pitched once and made four pinch-hitting appearances. In 2011 he played in 16 games, 12 of them as a pitcher, and won his first college start against Houston with a career-best six innings in which he allowed two singles. An injury one week into spring practice ended his 2012 season before it began. He was on the Conference USA Academic Honor Roll in 2010 and 2012.^[4] Baseball-Reference records nine pitching appearances and a 2.61 ERA for him at Rice in 2013.^[1]

Professional career

The Brewers signed Spurlin as a free agent on June 19, 2013, and assigned him to their Arizona League team the next day.^[3] He went 3–0 with a 0.90 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 20 innings there that summer.^[1] In 2014 he pitched for the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Class A-Advanced Brevard County Manatees, and he spent 2015 with Brevard County.^[1][3] He was promoted to the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in May 2016 and pitched 41 games for them that season. That autumn he also pitched 11 games for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League.^[1][3]

He did not pitch in 2017 or 2018.^[1] In June 2018 MiLB.com reported that the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball had suspended him for 50 games without pay after a positive test for amphetamines under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The report noted that he had not pitched since 2016.^[5] He returned to Biloxi in 2019 and went 4–2 with a 1.82 ERA in 22 games.^[1] He elected free agency on November 4, 2019.^[3]

In the minor leagues Baseball-Reference credits him with a 14–5 record, a 2.73 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 181 innings over 136 games. With his Rice and Arizona Fall League games included, his totals are 15–5 with a 2.78 ERA in 156 games.^[1] ESPN's player page lists him as a Brewers relief pitcher who bats and throws right-handed.^[2]

Relationship to Terrence Spurlin

MiLB.com's player page lists Spurlin as the "brother of Terrence Spurlin," referring to Terrence Spurlin, a Kansas State first baseman from Cypress, Texas.^[3][6] The two players' university biographies do not support that link. Rice's biography names Tyler Spurlin's parents and says he has two sisters, while Kansas State's biography names different parents for Terrence Spurlin and lists one brother with a different first name.^[4][6] No other source consulted connects the two, so the MiLB.com listing may be a database error.