Kyle Molnar
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: (1996-11-14) November 14, 1996
Upland, California
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Kyle Steven Molnar is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

Amateur career

Molnar was born in Upland, California, to David and Kristin Molnar, and his hometown is Aliso Viejo, California.[1] He attended and graduated from Aliso Niguel High School.[2] As a freshman he was 5-3 with a 1.44 ERA, as a sophomore he was 8-3 record with a 2.25 ERA, as a junior he was 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA, and as a senior he was 7-4 with a 1.57 ERA; he threw a mid-90s fastball regularly.[3][1] He also played the outfield.[4] He was named 2013 and 2014 Perfect Game USA Underclass First Team All-American, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Second Team, and 2014 All-CIF Southern Section Division II First Team, to the 2014 Rawlings Top Prospect team at the Perfect Game USA National Showcase, and to the All-Tournament Team at the 17U Perfect Game USA World Series.[1] He was also ranked No. 47 on Baseball America’s Top 50 Prospects for the 2015 MLB Draft, No. 23 on Baseball America’s 2015 Top 100 High School Prospects, a 2015 Perfect Game USA first team All-American, a 2015 Perfect Game USA California Region first team All-American, ranked No. 8 on Perfect Game USA’s 2015 list of Top 500 High School prospects in California, and competed for the gold-medal winning U.S. 18U National Team at the 18U COPABE Pan American Championship, where he threw back-to-back one-hitters against Panama and Mexico.[1]

He then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins, for whom he was 6-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 14 games (13 starts).[5] In 2016 his 72 strikeouts were ninth in the Pac-12 and second among Pac-12 freshmen, and he was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and honorable mention All-Pac-12.[1] Due to a torn elbow ligament that resulted in Tommy John surgery, he did not play in 2017, and pitched only one inning in 2018.[1] He had a second elbow ligament reconstruction in May 2018.[3]

Professional career

The Los Angeles Angels selected him in the 26th round, with the 781st overall selection, of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.[3] Molnar did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

In 2021, Molnar made his professional debut, splitting time between the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils and Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas. In 25 appearances between the two affiliates, Molnar struggled to a 2-3 record and 7.14 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 2 saves in 40.1 innings pitched.[7] Hs split the 2022 season between Tri-City and the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers, posting a combined 5-0 record and 2.31 ERA with 47 strikeouts across 28 appearances. On August 25, 2022, Molnar was released by the Angels organization.[8]

International career

Molnar is Jewish, and was called up to the Israel national baseball team for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[9] He pitched in it against the Dominican Republic national baseball team.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kyle Molnar - Baseball". UCLA.
  2. ↑ "Aliso Niguel's Molnar is the ace everyone wants". Orange County Register. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  3. 1 2 3 "Angels take a flier on UCLA's Kyle Molnar, who has pitched one inning since 2016". Los Angeles Times. June 6, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Molnar continues to shine". Perfect Game.
  5. ↑ "Kyle Molnar Amateur, College & Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. ↑ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  7. ↑ "Recapping the 2021 MiLB Season for Every UCLA Baseball Alumnus". si.com. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  8. ↑ "Minor League Transactions: Aug. 20-Sept. 7, 2022". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  9. ↑ "Team Israel World Baseball Classic 2023 roster". MLB.com (in Spanish). February 10, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ Bybelezer, Charles (March 15, 2023). "Israel handed second straight mercy-rule loss at World Baseball Classic". JNS.org.


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