Bradley University Athletics

Ryan Eigsti Breaks into Big Leagues

Eleven years after he was drafted as a strong-armed catcher, former Bradley Baseball player Ryan Eigsti has been named a member of the Kansas City Royals 2017 coaching staff as the Major League Baseball team's bullpen catcher

BradleyBraves.com

Kansas City Royals Coaching Staff Changes

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 12/20/2016 2:59:00 PM

KANSAS CITY - Former Bradley Baseball catcher Ryan Eigsti (Eureka, IL/Eureka H.S.) began chasing his "Big League" dreams when he was selected in the 15th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals. Although he retired after playing 21 games at the Triple-A level in 2012, Eigsti will make his Major League coaching staff debut in 2017 as the bullpen catcher for the Kansas City Royals.

Eigsti was included among the coaching staff changes the Royals announced Monday. Among his duties, Eigsti will throw batting practice throughout the season, warm up each game's starting pitcher and assist in the bullpen during games.

A 3-year starter behind the plate for Bradley from 2005-07, Eigsti was a honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a junior. The strong-armed catcher also earned the team's Kirby Puckett Gold Glove in 2006 and 2007, as well as Bradley's Troy Guidotti Hustle Award in 2007. He hit .270 with 70 RBI's in his 138 college games, while throwing out 42 percent (65-of-156) of runners who tried to steal against him in his three seasons, before signing with the Royals as the 456th overall pick in the 2007 draft. In addition to his success on the field, the construction major was a two-time (2006, 2007), first-team Valley Scholar-Athlete and was selected to the 2007 CoSIDA Academic All-District V squad.

Eigsti played six seasons of minor league baseball, including the 2008 campaign for the Burlington Bees in the Midwest League, when he hit .218 with nine home runs, 18 doubles and 35 RBI's. During the 2009 season with Wilmington in the Class A Advanced Carolina League, Eigsti threw out a career-best 43 percent (53-of-135) runners trying to steal against him. He reached the Triple-A level in 2011 by appearing in one game for Omaha and all but 13 of his 322 minor league games were played in the Royals organization. After playing 11 games for Omaha in 2012, Eigsti finished out his career with 10 games for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.

Print Friendly Version