| Ryan Noda | |
| Team: | Oakland Athletics |
| Number: | 49 |
| Position: | First baseman |
| Birth Date: | 30 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Volo, Illinois, U.S. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | March 30 |
| Debutyear: | 2023 |
| Debutteam: | Oakland Athletics |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | April 23, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .220 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 17 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 56 |
| Teams: |
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Ryan Anthony Noda (born March 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Noda attended Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, Illinois.[1] He was not drafted after graduating, and then attended the University of Cincinnati, playing three seasons with the Bearcats.[2] In his freshman season, Noda recorded a .230 batting average, seven home runs, and 32 runs batted in (RBI). In addition, he made a one-inning pitching appearance and did not allow a baserunner.[1] After his freshman season in 2015, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL),[3] and helped lead the Red Sox to the league championship.[4] As a sophomore, he batted .250 with six home runs and 34 RBI.[1] Following his sophomore season in 2016, he returned to the CCBL, playing for the Brewster Whitecaps.[5] In his final season with Cincinnati, Noda hit .236 with nine home runs and 36 RBI.
The Toronto Blue Jays selected Noda in the 15th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, and assigned him to the Rookie Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League. In 66 games, Noda recorded a .364 batting average, seven home runs, and 39 RBI.[2] He spent the 2018 season with the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts, posting a .256/.421/.484 slash with 20 home runs, 80 RBI, and 14 stolen bases across 124 games.
In 2019, Noda made 117 appearances for the High-A Dunedin Blue Jays, hitting .238/.372/.418 with 13 home runs, 74 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
Noda was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 23, 2021, as the player to be named later in the deal that sent Ross Stripling to the Blue Jays in 2020.[7] He was assigned to the Tulsa Drillers of the Double-A Central and played in 113 games for them, hitting .250 with 29 home runs and 78 RBI.[2] He was selected as a post-season Double-A Central all-star.[8] Noda was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers to begin the 2022 season,[9] where he played in 135 games with a .259 average, 25 home runs and 90 RBI.[2]
On December 7, 2022, the Oakland Athletics selected Noda with the second pick of the Rule 5 draft.[10] On March 27, 2023, the Athletics announced that Noda made their Opening Day roster.[11] Noda appeared in 128 games with the A's in 2023 and was the team's primary first baseman despite breaking his jaw while fielding in mid-July. Noda was leading the American League with 60 walks at the time of the injury.[12] Overall, he hit 16 home runs, drove in 54 runs, and walked 77 times. He was among the team's top hitters, finishing first in runs, walks, and on-base percentage (OBP), second in on-base plus slugging (OPS), and third in plate appearances, home runs, RBIs, total hits, and batting average. He was also third among all rookies in total walks.