Timothy Michael Collins (born August 21, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.
Amateur career
Collins attended high school at Worcester Technical High School in Worcester, Massachusetts which compiled a record of 91â€"5 during his four years there. Collins was overlooked by baseball scouts because of his size, standing at only 5'7". His senior year, Collins threw a no-hitter against Auburn High School in the district championship game.
Professional career
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays' general manager J. P. Ricciardi discovered Collins after he was pitching in an American Legion Baseball game. Collins began his professional career in 2007 with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays of the Gulf Coast League Northern Division. In 7 games, Collins was involved in no decisions and had an ERA of 4.50. The next season, Collins was promoted to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League. That season, Collins went 4â€"2 with a 1.58 ERA, 98 strikeouts, and 14 saves in 49 games, all in relief. He was fifth in the league in ERA that season. His 14 saves ranked him third in the entire Blue Jays organization in that category. In 2009, Collins began the season with the Class-A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League. In 40 games with Dunedin, he went 7â€"4 with a 2.37 ERA, 99 strikeouts, and 3 saves. He was named to the Florida State League All-Star team that season. Collins was later promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Eastern League. Collins compiled a record of 2â€"3 with a 5.68 ERA, and 17 strikeouts in 9 games with New Hampshire. On the season, Collins had a combined record of 9â€"7 with a 2.91 ERA in 77 1â„3 innings pitched. Collins was rated as having the best curveball in the Blue Jays organization by Baseball America in 2010. Collins was selected as the Toronto Blue Jays organization's Postseason Player of the Year by MLB.com.
Atlanta Braves
On July 14, 2010, Collins was traded to the Atlanta Braves with Tyler Pastornicky and Alex González for shortstop, Yunel Escobar and pitcher, Jo-Jo Reyes.
Kansas City Royals
On July 31, 2010, Collins was traded along with Jesse Chavez and Gregor Blanco for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.
On March 31, 2011, Collins made his Major League debut against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, pitching one inning. He did not allow a run and struck out Torii Hunter for his first MLB strikeout. Three days later, he earned his first MLB victory by pitching three scoreless innings against the Angels in extra innings, striking out five. On August 14, 2012 he set the Royals single season strikeout record for a left handed reliever. Collins finished the 2012 season with 93 strikeouts, second place among all Major League left-handed relievers behind the Reds Aroldis Chapman. Overall in 2012 Collins pitched  69 2â„3 innings with an ERA of 3.36 and a record of 5-4. On March 11, 2015, Collins underwent Tommy John surgery and was ruled out for the entire 2015 season. An MRI taken in March 2016 showed that the ligament graft performed during the operation was not successful, and another Tommy John surgery had to be performed.
Collins became a free agent on November 18.
Washington Nationals
On December 13, 2016, Collins signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals.
Pitching style
Despite his small size, Collins garners good speed on his four-seam fastball (averaging 93â€"94 mph, tops out at 97 mph). He also features two effective off-speed pitches, a curveball at 74â€"77 mph and a changeup at 83â€"85 mph. The curve is his most common pitch when ahead in the count, and is a frequent offering with 2 strikes. His changeup is typically used earlier in the count and is mostly thrown to right-handed hitters. All three pitches have above-average whiff rates (including 51% for the changeup), leading to a high strikeout rate.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Tim Collins on Twitter
