Anthony Kay looked set for a long career in Major League Baseball after leaving UConn, selected in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft after posting a 2.38 ERA in his final two seasons with the Huskies.

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The Long Island native was picked by his hometown New York Mets, but the storybook aspect of his MLB career ended there as Kay spent most of the next six seasons in the minors and posted just a 5.59 ERA in 44 MLB appearances. Kay was dealt to Toronto as part of a trade for Marcus Stroman and remained north of the border through the end of the 2022 season – he was ultimately released by the Blue Jays and spent the next year bouncing between several organizations on waivers.

The former Husky has spent the last two seasons playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, rediscovering his confidence and first-round allure as one of the Japanese league’s premier pitchers. And after Kay led the NPB in ground-ball rate and set the Yokohama DeNA BayStars foreign franchise record for ERA last season, New York Post reporter Jon Heyman reported Wednesday that the southpaw is expected to return to the MLB this season.

At 31, Kay’s path back to the show is a bit hazier than his initial foray as a first-round rookie, but he insists that two seasons in Japan have also transformed him into a “completely different pitcher.”

“There are so many adjustments and everything that I’ve made over here compared to in America,” Kay recently told Pacific Swings. “I am like 100% a completely different pitcher over here than I am over there.” Kay also noted that he’s added about 6 miles per hour in velocity to his cutter and introduced a two-seam fastball to his rotation.

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Kay was actually drafted by the Mets twice, entering the 2013 MLB Draft out of high school but opting to attend UConn after being selected in the 28th round. He made 18 appearances as a freshman, striking out 57 batters while earning a pair of saves, before blossoming into a first-team All-Conference player in his sophomore year and an All-American selection as a junior.

Selected with the 31st overall pick, Kay is the fifth highest-selected UConn alum in the MLB Draft, most recently surpassed by two-way player Reggie Crawford in 2022. Current World Series star George Springer was selected in 2011 along with righthanded pitcher Matt Barnes, both members of that year’s famous Huskies squad, which reached the NCAA Tournament Super Regional round.

This article originally published at Former UConn star, first-round draft bust, eyes MLB return after success in Japan.