Carson Ragsdale Bio
Carson Andrew Ragsdale (born May 25, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher and a free agent. Ragsdale was selected in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft and has spent his professional career working through the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants organizations before reaching the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles in 2025.
Early Life and Background
Carson Andrew Ragsdale was born on May 25, 1998, and holds American nationality. Public records provided in his professional profiles emphasize his birth date and nationality; other personal early-life details have not been provided in the verified sources.
Ragsdale entered professional baseball after the 2020 draft. The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he did not appear in professional games that year, beginning his on-field professional development the following season.
Path to Baseball
Ragsdale was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth round, 116th overall, of the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. The draft selection marked the start of his professional career and set the path for his progression through the minor leagues within MLB organizations.
Early opportunities included his trade to the San Francisco Giants in January 2021 in exchange for Sam Coonrod. That transaction moved Ragsdale into the Giants’ development system, where he began a multi-year stint across Single–A through Triple–A levels while recovering from and managing arm-related injuries during his ascent.
Carson Ragsdale Career
Early Career (2020–2021)
After being drafted in 2020 and missing that season due to the pandemic, Ragsdale made his professional debut in 2021 with the Single–A San Jose Giants. In his first full professional season he worked as a starting pitcher across 24 starts, compiling an 8–6 record, a 4.43 earned run average and recording 167 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings.
Those strikeout totals established Ragsdale early on as a starter with swing-and-miss capability. The volume of innings and starts in 2021 served as the primary developmental foundation for his progression inside the Giants’ farm system.
San Francisco Giants Breakthrough (2021–2025)
Ragsdale’s time in the Giants organization included both performance milestones and significant setbacks. He began 2022 with the Arizona Complex League Giants, striking out nine batters across five scoreless appearances, before undergoing thoracic outlet surgery that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
He returned to game action and resumed climbing the ladder in 2023, beginning the year with High–A Eugene where he posted a 2.93 ERA with 42 strikeouts across seven starts before a right elbow injury ended his season after May. Ragsdale again logged a substantial workload in 2024 across Double–A Richmond and Triple–A Sacramento, finishing the year with a 5–7 record, a 4.18 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 120 2/3 innings. The organization added him to its 40-man roster following the 2024 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, reflecting the club’s valuation of his potential despite injury history.
Ragsdale began 2025 optioned to Triple–A Sacramento, where he made 18 appearances (14 starts) and posted a 5–5 record with a 5.37 ERA and 58 strikeouts before the Giants designated him for assignment on July 28, 2025.
Baltimore Orioles Era (2025)
Following his designation by San Francisco, Ragsdale was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles on August 3, 2025. In Triple–A with the Norfolk Tides he made seven appearances, including five starts, and posted a 2–2 record with a 3.47 ERA and 18 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings. The Orioles promoted him to the major leagues on September 14, 2025, marking his first MLB roster call-up.
Ragsdale made his major league debut on September 14, 2025, appearing as a reliever. In that outing he allowed eight runs over three innings in a game the Orioles lost. The club designated him for assignment on September 15. Later in September the Atlanta Braves claimed Ragsdale off waivers; he made a single Triple–A appearance for the Gwinnett Stripers and was designated for assignment again. He returned to Baltimore on a subsequent waiver claim and made a one-appearance outing of two scoreless innings against the New York Yankees before being designated for assignment in November. Following a brief sequence of waiver claims and a non-tender, Ragsdale became a free agent late in 2025.
Driving Style and Strengths
Ragsdale’s professional record shows a pitcher who profiles best as a starter with swing-and-miss stuff, illustrated by high strikeout totals in both his 2021 and 2024 seasons. He has worked primarily as a starter in the minor leagues but has also appeared in relief at the Triple–A and major league levels, demonstrating flexibility in role usage as organizations managed his workload and return from injuries.
Notable Events and Milestones
Key milestones in Ragsdale’s career include being selected in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB draft, being added to the San Francisco Giants’ 40-man roster after the 2024 season, and reaching the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles in September 2025. His professional journey has been punctuated by significant strikeout rates in multiple minor-league seasons and comebacks from arm surgery and injury interruptions.
Carson Ragsdale Career Wins
Ragsdale’s verified professional wins to date come primarily from his minor-league work. His 2021 season with Single–A San Jose produced an 8–6 record, and his 2024 season across Double–A and Triple–A yielded a 5–7 record. He recorded wins and decisions at the Triple–A level in 2025 while moving between organizations but has not registered a major league win as of the end of the 2025 season.
Minor League Highlights
Highlights include the 167 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings for San Jose in 2021 and the 147 strikeouts in 120 2/3 innings across Richmond and Sacramento in 2024. Those seasons are the clearest statistical markers of Ragsdale’s ability to miss bats and sustain multi-inning workloads when healthy.
Other Wins & Perfromances
Ragsdale’s 2025 Triple–A stints produced a series of workable starts and relief appearances that helped lead to his MLB promotion. He also posted a brief two-inning scoreless appearance for Baltimore in late September 2025 during a second stint with the organization, a positive outturn amid a season that involved multiple roster moves.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season was a year of transitions for Ragsdale. After beginning the year in the Giants’ Triple–A rotation, he struggled with a 5.37 ERA over 18 games before being designated for assignment in late July. The Baltimore Orioles claimed him in August, and his Triple–A work for Norfolk—2–2 with a 3.47 ERA in seven appearances—earned a major league promotion in September.
At the MLB level Ragsdale experienced a difficult debut outing, then moved through a series of waiver claims that culminated in a brief scoreless relief appearance later in September and eventual non-tender status in November, leaving him a free agent. The outlook for Ragsdale entering free agency emphasizes health, sustained innings and rebuilding the consistent form that produced his high minor-league strikeout totals.