| Steven Kent | |
|---|---|
| Canberra Cavalry – No. 23 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:8 May 1989 Canberra, Australia | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left |
Steven John Kent (born 8 May 1989) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League.
Kent is a four time ABL All-Star. [1] [2] [3]
Kent signed with the Atlanta Braves as an international free agent in 2005 for a $370,000 signing bonus. [4] [5] In 2007 the Australian Baseball Federation named him the youth player of the year. [6] He started his professional career in 2006 playing for the GCL Braves of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. After a successful return from Tommy John surgery during the 2015–16 ABL season Kent trialed with the Kansas City Royals. [7] In January 2016 it was announced that Kent has signed with his former club the Atlanta Braves. [8] Kent spent the majority of the 2016 season playing with Atlanta's AA side the Mississippi Braves. In September 2016 Kent was promoted to Atlanta's AAA side the Gwinnett Braves. [9]
Kent has played for the Canberra Cavalry [10] in the Australian Baseball League since their opening season in 2010. Before the 2013–14 ABL season he hurt his ulnar collateral ligament in a Baseball ACT game,and had a Tommy John surgery on 2 December 2015,sidelining him for the entire 2013–14,and most of the 2014–15 ABL season. [11]
On 14 November 2015 he threw a 7-inning complete game shutout against the Brisbane Bandits. [12] On 21 November he threw 8⅔shutout innings against the Melbourne Aces,but gave up a 2-run home run against Brad Harman. [13] He was named as the Pitcher of the Week of 12–15 November and 19–22 November. [14]
On 15 March 2018,against the Belconnen Bandits,he set a new Baseball Canberra single-game strikeout record,striking out 23 hitters in a complete-game shutout. [15] Kent finished the 2018–19 ABL season with a team record and league-leading 7 wins and was named as the best Cavalry player of the season. [16]
On 12 February 2019 he was invited for spring training of Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with Steven Chambers. [17] [18]
Kent has been a member of Team Australia since he was 17. [6] Kent competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics Qualification,2011 Baseball World Cup,2013,2017 World Baseball Classic [19] 2018 exhibition games against Japan and 2019 WBSC Premier12.
On 20 February 2018,he was selected exhibition games against Japan. [20]
On 8 October 2019,he was selected at the 2019 WBSC Premier12. [21]
On 10 February 2023,he selected at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. [22]