Professional career
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees selected Eiland in the seventh round of the 1987 MLB draft. [4] He was fast-tracked through the system,starting the 1988 season at Double-A Albany before getting called up to Triple-A Columbus in July. [1] Eiland made his major league debut with the Yankees on August 3,1988. [5] He allowed three hits in seven innings,including a home run to the first batter he faced,Paul Molitor. [6] [7]
Eiland spent four years in the organization,bouncing between the big leagues and the minors. [6] [8] In 1990,while pitching for the Columbus Clippers,he tied an International League record for wins in a 16-5 season,and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year. He then earned a spot in the rotation to start the 1991 season,but pitched to a 5.33 ERA in 72.2 innings. [9] Eiland missed two months to a heel injury,and later admitted to pitching while hurt after returning. [6] [10]
On January 9,1992,he was designated for assignment by the Yankees. Unhappy with the decision,he told the media "it was a stupid move on the part of the Yankees and I'm looking forward to leaving." [10] [11]
San Diego Padres
He signed with the San Diego Padres in 1992 and was named the team's fifth starter to begin the season. [12] [13] [8] On April 10,he hit a home run in his first plate appearance,facing Bob Ojeda of the Los Angeles Dodgers. [14] [15] It was the only home run Eiland hit in 27 plate appearances,but it made him the only player in MLB history to give up a home run to the first batter he faced and hit a homer in his first plate appearance. [1] [7]
Eiland re-signed with the Padres for the 1993 season,but was designated for assignment in May after pitching to a 5.21 ERA in 10 games. [16] He became a free agent when he refused an outright assignment. [17]
New York Yankees (second stint)
He returned to the Yankees in 1994,spending the entire strike-shortened season in Triple-A. [6] Eiland re-signed with the Yankees for the 1995 season and was finally recalled on July 19 to make a spot start. On July 21,he earned his first major league win since 1991. [21]
New York Yankees (third stint)
He re-signed with the Yankees for a third time and spent most of the 1996 season with the Columbus Clippers. [26] [25] Eiland spent the last two weeks of the season with the Yankees but didn't pitch. [27] He spent the 1997 season in Triple-A,compiling a 6.64 ERA in 62.1 innings while dealing with tendinitis. [28] [29] He left the Clippers as the team's all-time leader in wins (67),innings pitched (767) and strikeouts (437). [29]
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Eiland considered retiring at the end of the 1997 season before signing a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in December 1997. [30] He was a non-roster invitee that spring [31] but ultimately started the year in Triple-A. [32] Despite pitching to a 2.99 ERA in 171.2 innings for the Durham Bulls,Eiland was not called up to the majors until September 25,1998. [33] [25]
He returned to the Devil Rays in 1999 and was called up in May [30] and maintained a 5.60 ERA in 80.1 innings between the rotation and bullpen. [34] Eiland made the 2000 Devil Rays out of spring training as the team's long reliever. [30] That year,he held a 7.24 ERA in 54.2 innings as a starter and reliever. [35]
Oakland Athletics
On December 6,2000,Eiland signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics. However,he ultimately never pitched in a competitive game with the organization. He missed the entire 2001 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery,and then re-tore the ligament in April 2002. [36] Despite initially being hopeful that he would be able to return,Eiland was ultimately forced to retire. [37]
Coaching career
New York Yankees
After retiring,Eiland joined the Yankees organization and worked as a pitching coach in the minor leagues,starting with the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2003. [1] In June,he was reassigned to the Staten Island Yankees in Short Season A-ball. [38] Eiland returned to Staten Island for the 2004 season. [39] [40]
He next coached the Trenton Thunder in 2005 and 2006 before making the jump to Triple-A as the pitching coach of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2007. [41] [42] During his tenure in the Yankees farm system,Eiland oversaw the development of prospects including Phil Hughes, [43] Joba Chamberlain, [44] and Ian Kennedy. [45]
Following the 2007 season,Joe Torre and several Yankees coaches—including pitching coach Ron Guidry—were dismissed. [46] Dave Eiland was hired as the new Yankees pitching coach for Joe Girardi's staff. [47] [48] During his time with the team,Eiland worked extensively with the struggling A.J. Burnett. [49] [50] [51]
He took a personal leave of absence from the Yankees beginning on June 4,2010,and returned to the team on June 29. [52] Though the reason for the absence was never explained,Eiland later alluded to it being related to a family issue. [53] It was noted that while he was away from the team,Burnett was 0–5 with an 11.35 ERA in five starts. [54]
On October 25,Eiland was fired by Brian Cashman. [55] He later said he was shocked by the decision. [56] When asked about the dismissal,Cashman told reporters "He knows why. He was given conditions that needed to be followed. So he knows why." [57] Eiland then hired agent Burton Rocks. [58]
Kansas City Royals
On October 25,2011,Eiland was named as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. [61] [62] He was let go by the Royals after the 2017 season. [63]
New York Mets
When the Mets named Mickey Callaway as their manager after the 2017 season,Eiland was hired as the team's pitching coach. [64] He worked with Jacob deGrom to simplify his approach,helping him win the Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019. [65] Eiland also helped Steven Matz develop a delivery that was less stressful on his body. [66] He helped Zack Wheeler change his mechanics in order to improve his timing and increase his velocity. [67] [68] Eiland was fired on June 20,2019. [69]
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