Bailey Falter

Bailey Falter is a professional baseball pitcher who has played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Born on April 24, 1997, Falter hails from Chino Hills, California. As a child, he was inspired by professional baseball pitcher Sandy Koufax, whom he admired greatly. He attended Chino Hills High School, where he made the school’s baseball team and even managed to pitch a no-hitter in 2013.

Falter began his professional baseball journey when the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the fifth round of the 2015 MLB draft. Signing with the Phillies also marked the beginning of a journey through their farm system, a journey that got interrupted by an elbow injury in 2019 being further disrupted by the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season owing to the global pandemic.

Despite these hitches, 2021 saw Falter making his debut with the Phillies, following which he spent three seasons switching between the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Philadelphia’s own team. During this time, he fulfilled roles of both a starting pitcher and a reliever. This period of flux ended in 2023 when the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired him and added him to their starting rotation.

Besides his MLB career, Falter was a key player in the national under-14 baseball team representing the United States in the COPABE Junior Olympic Pan Am Championship in Venezuela in 2011, managing to secure a gold medal for the team. In his high school, Chino Hills High School, Falter’s classmates included future National Basketball Association (NBA) player Lonzo Ball, and during his time there, he built a great friendship with the Ball family.

Despite not having overpowering pitch speed, Falter’s impressive command made him stand out in the Gulf Coast League, and he recorded impressive stats during his first professional baseball season. His performance in Williamsport improved significantly through the season as he became more confident on the mound.

In 2017, Falter was listed among the youngest players on the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws’ roster while still aged 19. Despite his relative youth, Falter delivered an impressive season, which drew considerable praise from Joe Jordan, director of player development. He joined the Class A-Advanced Clearwater Threshers the following year and was named a Florida State League midseason All-Star in June.

Unfortunately, Falter’s 2019 season was prematurely cut short due to an ulnar collateral ligament injury of the elbow, denying him the chance to build on his earlier successes in that year. Spending the cancelled 2020 minor league season at home in California, Falter worked on increasing his muscle mass.

Following his return, Falter achieved a strong debut season in 2021 and even earned a subsequent promotion to the Philadelphia Phillies. However, he had to divide his time between the MLB and the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training in 2021 was a significant milestone for Falter as it marked his first invitation to the event. His minor league struggles notwithstanding, the Phillies added him to their 40-man roster at the end of the 2020 season to protect him from being claimed by another team.

Despite the struggles he faced in the major leagues in 2023, there was no denying his potential as a major contributor in the starting rotation, especially after his promising performance in Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Such was this potential that he ultimately became the Phillies’ first-choice reserve starter in the event of an injury to their rotation. This promising run was short-lived after the Pirates acquired Falter from the Phillies in 2023, and he ended his season with the Pirates on a low, having to be placed on a 15-day injured list due to a left neck strain.

Nevertheless, the Pirates backed him as their fifth starter for the 2024 season. Part of Falter’s charm also lies in his repertoire, boasts of a 92 mph four-seam fastball, an 86 mph slider, a 77 mph curveball, and a 92 mph sinker. Coupled with his unique stride into his pitching motion – a trait modeled after Sandy Koufax – and a tactical pause during his windup, Falter has found a way to compensate for his slow fastball speed while keeping opposing hitters at bay.