Kirby Kali Yates...married wife Ashlee in 2016 and has daughter Oaklee and son Kove...drafted by Boston in the 2005 draft and missed the 2006 and 2007 seasons due to Tommy John surgery.
2024
Signed with Texas as a free agent on Dec. 6, 2023...Finished the season 7-2 for the second consecutive season…registered a 1.17 ERA (8 ER/61.2 IP) in 61 relief outings with 33 saves and 85 strikeouts against 28 walks...Selected to his second All-Star game and first with the American League after going 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA (4 ER/34.1 IP) in 34 games and 46 strikeouts...Named to the All-MLB Second Team and finished eighth in Cy Young voting.
2023
Compiled a 7-2 record, five saves, 3.28 ERA (22 ER/60.1 IP), and 80 strikeouts over 61 relief appearances with Atlanta last season, ranking among National League relief leaders in opponent batting average (sixth, .167), wins (career-high seven, T8th), and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (11th, 11.93)…marked the highest strikeouts per 9.0 inning figure by any pitcher in his age 36-or-older season (min. 60.0 IP) since HOU’s Justin Verlander in 2019 (12.1 SO/9 at 36 years old)…Seven wins were a career high (prev. five in 2018) and T5th-most on club… issued a career-high 37 walks (prev. 19 in 2016/2017), and his 14.6% walk pct. was third-highest in the N.L. (min. 60.0 IP) to only MIA’s Edward Cabrera (15.2%) and CIN’s Lucas Sims (15.1%)…limited opponents to a .167/.304/.314/.619 (35-210) slash line, including a .124/.286/.289/.574 (12-97) line vs. lefthanders…made 1st and only career postseason appearance in NLDS G2 vs. PHI (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R-0 ER), retiring three of five batters faced in the fifth inning of a 5-4 Braves’ victory...The 2023 campaign marked a return to form for Yates, who saw just 15 appearances at the big-league level over the previous three seasons (2020-22)…was on San Diego’s 60- day Injured List from 8/15/20-end of season with right elbow inflammation and missed the entire 2021 campaign with Toronto after undergoing ‘Tommy John’ ligament replacement surgery performed on 3/24/21…signed a two-year contract with Atlanta on 11/29/21 and was on the club’s 60-day Injured List from 3/28-8/9/22 while rehabbing from the procedure.
2022
Made his return to the field on July 22 after recovering from Tommy John Surgery, pitching a scoreless frame for Double-A Mississippi...Pitched another scoreless frame for Mississippi before continuing his rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett...With the Stripers, appeared in five games, threw 5.1 innings and gave up only one run...Struck out four and walked two...Made his Atlanta debut on Aug. 10 at Boston, tossing a scoreless 0.1 of an inning...Overall, pitched in nine big league games in 2022 and gave up four earned runs across 7.0 innings (5.14 ERA)...Placed on the 15-day Injured List on Sept. 13 with right elbow inflammation, ending his season.
2021
Signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in January, and was placed on the 60-day injured list with right elbow surgery March 29…Did not pitch during the season...Underwent Tommy John surgery March 24, his second such procedure…He also had the surgery in 2006.
2020
Made six appearances for the Padres in the shortened campaign....Converted both of his save opportunities, bringing him to 55-for-59 since the start of 2018...Left the game on Aug. 14 at ARI in the bottom of the 8th...Landed on the injured list the next day with right elbow inflammation for the remainder of the season....Shortly after his IL placement, had surgery to remove bone chips in his right elbow by Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas, TX.
2019
Posted career-bests in a multitude of categories and earned several awards on the season, including All-MLB First-Team, a 2019 MLB All-Star and National League Reliever of the Month for April...His 1.19 ERA led the majors and he earned the 2019 saves title with 41 saves on the season, the only ML pitcher to reach 40+ saves in 2019…he became the 1st Padres reliever since Hall-of-Famer Trevor Hoffman in 1998 to lead the majors in saves…previous NL saves leaders in San Diego history include Hoffman (1998, 2006), Heath Bell (2009), Mark Davis (1989) and Rollie Fingers (1977-78)...Earned his 1st-career All-Star selection, becoming the 1st All-Star born on the island of Kauai and the 6th Hawaiianborn All-Star…was the club's 3rd consecutive reliever to serve as the Padres' ASG representative, joining Brad Hand, who made the roster in 2017 and 2018... Earned his 1st-career National League Reliever of the Month Award for April, joining Brad Hand (July 2017 and May 2018) and Trevor Hoffman (3 occasions)...Named a NL Reliever of the Year finalist along with SF's Will Smith and eventual winner MIL's Josh Hader...Awarded Baseball Digest's MLB "Relief Pitcher of the Year"...Set career-highs in many categories, including saves (41), SVO (44), ERA (1.19), SO (101), WHIP (0.89), fieldingindependent percentage (1.26), opponent SLG (.262), opponent OPS (.515), games finished (51), SO/9.0 IP (14.98), BB/9.0 IP (1.93) and HR/9.0 IP (0.82)...allowed a career-low 2 HR allowed and also matched his career high in losses (5, 2x; also 2017)...Appeared in an NL-best 16 games in April, posting a 0.56 ERA with 25 SO and an ML-best 14 saves over 16.0 IP...His 14 saves across March/April were the most of any pitcher in ML history…his 11 saves in April trailed only Trevor Hoffman's 12 saves in May 2005 for the most in club history for any calendar month...Posted a 12.0-scoreless inning streak from April 5-30, the 7th-longest streak by a Padres pitcher in 2019 and the 2ndlongest of his career, behind only his 14.0-scoreless streak from June 3-June 30, 2018...Tallied at least one SO in 13 consecutive appearances from March 28-April 23, T-3rd-longest streak in team history, trailing only Brad Boxberger (20 in 2012) and Bryce Florie (15 in 1996)...Converted 26 consecutive save opportunities from March 28-June 18, the longest streak in the majors in 2019… his streak of 26 saves in 26 SVO without allowing a run to start the season was the longest in Padres history… previous was Trevor Hoffman in 1996 (23 saves)…joined Heath Bell (2011) as the only Padres pitchers to go 26-for27 in SVO prior to the All-Star break...Entered 46 games in a high-leverage situations, the 2ndmost among all relievers behind only CIN Raisel Iglesias' 47 games...Posted a 0.59 ERA (3 ER, 45.2 IP) in 44 games with a SVO, while he pitched to a 3.00 ERA (5 ER, 15.0 IP) in 16 games without a SVO...With 41 saves in 2019, he became the 1st Padres pitcher to reach 40 saves in a season since Heath Bell had 43 in 2011…Yates became the 4th different Padres pitcher to accomplish this feat (14th time), joining Trevor Hoffman (1996, 1998-99, 2000-01 & 2004-07), Bell (2009-11) and Mark Davis (1989)...Set the franchise record with 30 saves before the All-Star break, passing Heath Bell's 26 saves prior to the All-Star break in 2011...also set the record for the lowest opponent AVG (.163), OBP (.231), SLG (.230) and OPS (.461) by a Padres pitcher prior to the All-Star break...His 20 saves at Petco Park in 2019 T-5th with Trevor Hoffman (2004), Heath Bell (2011), Huston Street (2013) and Craig Kimbrel (2015) for the single-season ballpark save record…Hoffman holds the record with 24 saves at Petco Park in 2005...His 14.98 SO/9.0 IP rate set the single-season franchise record by a reliever, besting his own 14.07 SO/9 rate in 2017…his 14.98 SO/9 in 2019 finished 3rd in the NL and 5th in the majors...recorded 13 games with 3 SO in just 1.0 IP, the most among all relievers...in 10 games and 10.0 IP from April 26-May 22, he struck out 24 of the 41 batters he faced (21.60 SO/9 rate)...Notched his 1st-career 4-out save on June 28 vs. STL… recorded his 1st-career 5-out save on July 5 at LAD, becoming the 1st Padres pitcher to accomplish this feat since Brad Hand on May 23, 2018 at WSH...Appeared in and recorded a save in 3 straight team games on 2 occasions (July 5-7 & August 17-19)...Recorded 5-or-more saves vs. 3 single opponents in 2019, including 6 saves vs. SF, 5 saves vs. ARI and 5 saves vs. LAD...Pitched to a 1.02 ERA (4 ER, 35.1 IP) with 20 SV in 35 games at home while limiting opponents to a .176/.241/.240 slash line…posted a 1.42 ERA (4 ER, 25.1 IP) with 21 SV in 25 games on the road while holding opponents to a .198/.267/.292 slash line...led all of baseball with 21 saves on the road...Prior to the All-Star break, Yates pitched to a 1.15 ERA (5 ER, 39.0 IP) with 30 SV in 31 SVO over 38 games… following the ASG, he posted a 1.25 ERA (3 ER, 21.2 IP) with 11 SV in 13 SVO across 22 appearances...His .186 opponent AVG on the season led all Padres relievers and was the 2nd-lowest of his career, behind only his .181 opponent AVG in 2018...Opponents hit just .153 against his split finger with 51 SO and .216 against his fastball with 50 SO…his splitter had a vertical movement of 4.0 inches, the most in the NL and the 2nd-most in the majors behind only CLE Tyler Clippard (5.2 inches).
2018
Set career highs in many categories, including appearances (65), wins (five), saves (12), IP (63.0), SO (90), ERA (2.14), WHIP (0.92) and opponent BA (.181)...Among all qualifying relievers, his .181 opponent average ranked second in the SD bullpen and eighth in the NL... His 1.50 home ERA (5 ER, 30.0 IP) ranked ninth in the ML and sixth in the NL among relievers who made at least 30 appearances in their own park...Did not allow a run in all of June, posting a team-high 14.0-scoreless IP streak across 12 outings from 6/3-30, allowing just six hits (one double) over the stretch...Had his scoreless-IP streak snapped on 7/7 at ARI, allowing a season-high three runs…his 0.79 ERA (3 ER, 34.0 IP) prior to the outing was the lowest among all ML relievers...Held opponents scoreless in 34 of his 39 first half appearances…his 1.43 ERA (6 ER, 37.2 IP) ranked seventh in the majors and his .167 opponents average ranked ninth...Went 2-3, converted 10 of his 11 save opportunities and posted a 3.20 ERA (9 ER, 25.1 IP) with 42 SO against six BB in the second half...Recorded saves in three consecutive outings twice (9/9-12 and 9/21-26)...his nine saves between August and September were fourth-most in the ML...Missed 10 games from 4/8-19 on the 10-day DL with right ankle tendonitis and missed three games on the paternity leave list from 7/3-5 due to the birth of his son, Kove Kali...Missed three games from 8/31-9/2 while on the bereavement list...Posted a 1.55 ERA (7 ER, 40.2 IP) in night games and a 3.22 ERA (8 ER, 22.1 IP) in day games...Had a 1.78 ERA (6 ER, 30.1 IP) and a .178 opponent average in one-run games... Limited righties to a .137 clip (17-for-124) while lefties hit .235 (24-for-102)...Limited the opposition to a .122 clip (11-for-90) with runners on base, .114 (5-for-44) with RISP, .077 (2-for-26) with RISP/2 out and .000 (0-for-4) with the bases loaded...Allowed just two hits to the 30 batters he faced in full 3-2 counts…his .083 opponent average in those scenarios was the 11th lowest among all NL arms (min. 30 batters faced)...Relied on three pitches: four-seamer (58.4%), split finger (36.3%) and slider (5.4%)...Following the season, was selected to the MLB roster for the 2018 Japan All-Star Series.
2017
Split the season between Salt Lake (AAA), LAA and SD, setting career bests in a multitude of categories... Began the season with Salt Lake and made six relief appearances, posting a 2.57 ERA with 14 SO against three BB... Selected to LAA on 4/22 and made his Angels debut that same day vs. TOR, allowing two earned runs... Designated for assignment by LAA the following day on 4/23 and claimed off waivers by SD on 4/26... Went on to set career bests with the Padres in ERA (3.72), WHIP (1.10), strikeouts (87) appearances (61) and IP (55.2)... His 20 holds led the SD bullpen…also inherited 16 runners this season and allowed only one of them to score, posting a 6.3 inherited runners scoring percentage…also had 14.07 SO/9.0 IP ratio, the most of any Padres reliver... His 3.72 ERA (23 ER, 55.2 IP) was the third-best ERA among qualifying Padres relievers... Allowed two-or-more earned runs in just five of his 61 appearances... His 15.6 pitches-per-game this season were the second-fewest on the team, behind only Brandon Maurer's 14.5... In his first 36 games with SD from 4/27-7/26, he owned a 1.89 ERA (7 ER, 33.1 IP), the lowest ERA of Padres relievers in that time...in those 36 games, he allowed one of his 11 inherited runners to score for a team-best .091 inherited runners scoring percentage (min. three appearances)... Overall on the season, opponents hit .211 (44-for-209) against him and just .158 while pitching at home... Owned a 1.67 ERA at home (6 ER, 32.1 IP) and a 7.03 ERA on the road (19 ER, 24.1 IP).
2016
With Yankees, set career-highs in appearances (41), wins (2), innings pitched (41.1) and strikeouts (50)...Retired 28 of 41 fi rst batt ers faced (68.3%)...Earned wins in consecuti ve appearances May 6 vs. Boston and May 9 vs. Kansas City...Charged with only loss of season June 27 vs. Texas aft er entering game in ninth inning following a three-hour, 35-minute rain delay (1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 HBP)...Tied career high with four strikeouts (third time) Aug. 29 at Kansas City, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings...Pitched in 14 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre from June 30 - Aug. 15 and recorded four saves while pitching to a 1.62 ERA (16.2IP - 3ER).
2014
Despite not joining the Rays until their 63rd game, his 37 appearances tied for 9th among AL rookies and 2nd among AL East rookies behind NYY Dellin Betances (70)...His 10.50 SO/9 IP tied with teammate Jeff Beliveau for 2nd among AL rookies (min. 25 apps)...Recalled from Triple-A Durham on June 7 when RH Josh Lueke was designated for assignment...Didn't allow a run with the Rays until his fifth appearance, June 18 vs. BAL, when he surrendered homer No. 22 to major league home run leader Nelson Cruz...His ERA was 2.16 after his first 24 apps through Aug 19, but he permitted 10 runs (9-ER) over his final 13 appearances...Recorded his first and only major league save in the Rays 5-3 win on July 20 at MIN, replacing Grant Balfour with 2-on, 1-out in the 9th...Retired Twins HR leader Brian Dozier and Eduardo Nunez to earn the save...Only faced one batter July 27 vs. BOS, striking out fellow Hawaiian Shane Victorino on 14 pitches to escape a 2-out, 2-on jam in the 7th...On July 9 vs. KC, surrendered a 3-run homer to Salvador Perez with one out in the 9th inning, wiping out a 4-2 Rays lead in an eventual 5-4 loss to the Royals…opponents hit only .182 (4- for-22) off him with 2 outs and runners in scoring position, but one of those hits was a grand slam by DET Victor Martinez on Aug 20...At the time of his recall from Triple-A Durham, was 16-for-16 in save opps, most in the International League...For the second consecutive year, led all Rays minor leaguers in saves...Allowed only one run in 25 apps with Durham… the only run he allowed scored on a fielder's choice...Opponents were 1-for-29 with runners in scoring position…lefties were 2-for-40...During his pro career has struck out 461 batters in 352.1 innings, a ratio of 11.77 SO/9 IP.
2013
Named Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year by the Rays baseball operations staff…spent the entire season with Triple-A Durham and went 3-2 with 20 saves (in 23 save opps) and a 1.90 ERA (61.2-IP, 13-ER)... Recorded 93 SO and only 23 BB in 61.2 IP, an average of 13.57 SO/9 IP, 2nd best among all Triple-A relievers…limited opponents to only 2 HR and a .175 avg. (38-for-217), 4th best among IL relievers... Named to the International League All-Star Game…prior to the break, went 3-1, 10-for-11 in save chances and a 1.03 ERA (43.2-IP, 23-H, 5-ER, 16-BB, 70-SO) in 36 games…after the break, had a 4.00 ERA (18-IP, 8-ER) in 15 games... His 20 saves led all Rays minor leaguers and tied for 3rd in the IL…also ranked 3rd in the IL in appearances (51) and games finished (38).
2012
Averaged 12.44 SO/9 IP for Double-A Montgomery, highest among Southern League relievers...ranked tied for 2nd in the SL with 39 games finished and 4th in the Rays organization with 16 saves...pitched to a 0.65 ERA (27.2-IP, 2-ER) with 40 SO in 19 games from June 30-Aug 16...named SL Pitcher of the Week for August 6-12 after recording 2 wins and a save in a 5-game series with Jackson...allowed only 1 of 22 inherited runners to score...pitched to a 2.45 ERA (11-IP, 3-ER) with 2 saves in 10 apps with the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.
2011
Missed the first two months of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgey... started a rehab assignment with the GCL Rays on June 22 and made 4 starts there before being reinstated from the disabled list with Class-A Charlotte on July 3...started the season with 10 scoreless outings spanning 21.2 IP...did not allow a run until Aug 12 at St. Lucie...limited opponents to a .128 avg. (14-for-109)...since the 2005 season only one Florida State League pitcher (min. 30 IP) has posted an opp avg. that low: Bradenton's Diego Moreno (Pirates) in 2010 (.105).
2010
Spent the majority of the season with Class-A Bowling Green and made his first 15 apps out of the bullpen...pitched to a 2.00 ERA (27-IP, 6-ER) and converted all 5 save opportunities before making the transition to the starting rotation...went 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA (63-IP, 27-ER) in 12 starts before being promoted to Charlotte on Aug 12...made 1 start with the Stone Crabs before missing the remainder of the season with a strained right shoulder which eventually required
offseason surgery
2009
Made his pro debut with Rookie-level Princeton and averaged 16.75 SO/9 IP in 14 games...pitched to a 1.06 ERA (17-IP, 2-ER) with 32 SO over his final 9 apps.
