J.R. Graham

[William Malone]

Johnathan Ryan Graham was born on January 14, 1990 in Livermore, California.

The Atlanta Braves selected him in round four of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Santa Clara University.  He reached Double-A in 2014, and was taken by the Minnesota Twins during the Rule-5 Draft the following off-season. Graham made his Major League debut on Opening Day in 2015, working two scoreless innings out of the Twins bullpen during a 4-0 loss against the Detroit Tigers.

He primarily was used in long relief during his rookie season, recording six or more outs in 19 of 39 appearances in 2015. His most notable outing arguably came on May 20th against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Graham allowed just one base runner while tossing shutout ninth, tenth and 11th innings. The Twins eventually won, pulling ahead on a Joe Mauer solo home run in the top of the 13th. Brian Duensing pitched the 12th, and got credit for the win. Glen Perkins pitched the bottom of the 13th, earning the save.

Graham finished 2015 with a 1-1 record and a 4.95 ERA across 63.2 innings. He was optioned to Triple-A at the end of spring training in 2016. Minnesota called him up in early May. Graham made one appearance on May 4th, allowing two runs over 1.2 innings. The Twins designated him for assignment on May 6th. He was traded to the New York Yankees for cash considerations before getting exposed to waivers.

New York kept Graham in their organization through the end of 2017, but he never reached the Majors with them. Graham retired after the 2017 campaign.

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