One draft selection, three trades and 11 years later, Chris Paddack is finally a Miami Marlins starting pitcher.
There was nothing traditional about this for the 30-year-old from Austin, Texas. He signed a one-year deal with the Marlins earlier this month and Miami manager Clayton McCullough said that Paddack will be in the rotation, along with opening day starter Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez.
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Paddack expressed how surreal it was to be named a starter for a team that traded him away as a prospect a decade ago.
“But it’s a full circle moment for me, man, it’s really cool. … This is a cool opportunity with the team that gave me that first chance as a young kid,” he said to reporters on Friday, including MLB.com. “The fact that I get to put a Marlins jersey on and just show the city of Miami who I once was back in 2015 of why they drafted me is a pretty surreal moment. And excited, like I said, excited to contribute any way I can and get the ball rolling.”
Chris Paddack’s Crazy Career
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Chris Paddack. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Miami Marlins selected Paddack in the eighth round of the 2015 MLB draft from Cedar Park High School in Cedar Park, Texas, which is just outside of Austin. He opted to start his pro career instead of heading to college.
He spent the rest of 2015 in the Florida Gulf Coast League and was promoted in 2016 to the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
But, on June 20, 2016, his career changed. The Marlins included him in a trade package for Fernando Rodney. The business of baseball got in the way of Paddack making his way to Miami. But it wasn’t the only time he was traded.
Paddack worked his way through San Diego’s system after he suffered an elbow injury and had Tommy John surgery in 2016. He made his MLB debut in 2019. With San Diego over three seasons, he went 20-19 with a 4.21 ERA. He was a serviceable, durable starter. But, right as the 2022 season began, he was traded to Minnesota.
With the Twins he had another elbow injury and another Tommy John and pitched in just 19 games over two seasons. He was a starter for Minnesota in 2025 but was traded one more time to Detroit for its division title drive. He went 2-3 with a 6.32 ERA in 12 games, with seven starts, for the Tigers.
Now, he’s back where it all started. Eleven years later he’ll finally take a start in Miami, in a Marlins uniform, just as he hoped as an 18-year-old.
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