| JP Sears | |
| Team: | Oakland Athletics |
| Number: | 38 |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Birth Date: | 19 February 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Left |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | April 13 |
| Debutyear: | 2022 |
| Debutteam: | New York Yankees |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | July 24, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss record |
| Stat1value: | 18–23 |
| Stat2label: | Earned run average |
| Stat2value: | 4.49 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 295 |
| Teams: |
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John Patrick Sears (born February 19, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the New York Yankees.
Sears graduated from Wilson Hall, a private school in Sumter, South Carolina,[1] and then attended The Citadel, where he played college baseball for The Citadel Bulldogs. He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 11th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He signed and spent his first professional season with the Everett AquaSox and the Clinton LumberKings, going 1–2 with a 0.65 ERA over innings.
On November 18, 2017, the Mariners traded Sears and Juan Then to the New York Yankees for Nick Rumbelow.[3] He spent the 2018 season with the Charleston RiverDogs, starting ten games and going 1–5 with a 2.67 ERA with 54 strikeouts over 54 innings.[4] In 2019, he pitched for the Tampa Tarpons and went 4–4 with a 4.07 ERA over innings. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season.[5] He split the 2021 season between the Somerset Patriots and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, going 10–2 with a 3.46 ERA over 25 games (18 starts), striking out 136 batters over 104 innings.[6]
The Yankees added Sears to their 40-man roster after the 2021 season.[7] He made the Yankees Opening Day roster in 2022 and made his major league debut on April 13.[8] Sears earned his first major league win on April 16, but was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.[9]
The Yankees traded Sears, Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk, and Cooper Bowman to the Oakland Athletics for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino on August 1, 2022.[10] The Athletics assigned Sears to the Las Vegas Aviators[11] and promoted him to the major leagues to make his first appearance for the Athletics on August 10.[12] In 2023, Sears led the A's pitchers in games started (32), innings pitched (172.1), and strikeouts (161) while posting a 5-14 record and a 4.54 ERA.
After giving up nine runs across 9.1 innings in his first two starts of the 2024 season, Sears took a no-hitter into the 7th inning on April 11 against Texas. He ended up pitching 6.1 innings and striking out 5 batters in a 1-0 win.[13]