Spenser Watkins, who made 40 appearances for the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s from 2021-23, has retired from baseball.
A right-handed pitcher, Watkins went went 7-14 with a 5.97 ERA across 164.1 major league innings. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first to report Watkins’ decision.
Watkins pitched in Taiwan in 2025 for the TSG Hawks, going 4-7 with a 5.11 ERA in 15 games.
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Nightengale reported that Watkins will join Gaeta Sports Management, who represented Watkins during his playing career. The agency confirmed Watkins’ decision to Newsweek Sports.
Watkins was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of Western Oregon University in the 30th round of the 2014 MLB Draft.
Over six seasons in the Tigers’ organization, Watkins started and relieved at every level of the organization, but no opportunity in the majors came calling. After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season, Watkins signed a minor league contract with the Orioles in February 2021.
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Watkins conceded at the time that he had considered retiring. And yet, seven years after he was drafted, the Orioles promoted Watkins to the majors for the first time in July 2021.
Watkins made 16 appearances for Baltimore as a 28-year-old rookie. He went 2-7 with an 8.07 ERA.
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Watkins saw his most extensive experience in the big leagues with the Orioles in 2022. That year, he appeared in 23 games (20 starts), threw 105.1 innings, and went 5-6 with a 4.70 ERA.
But the 2023 season saw Watkins take a step backwards. He cut the ring finger on his right (pitching) hand early in the season, an injury that caused him to miss a month. He posted a 7.27 ERA and 1.96 WHIP in 26 innings at Triple-A. The Orioles designated him for assignment at midseason, and he bounced from the Houston Astros to the Oakland A”s before the season was over.
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Watkins made the final appearance of his MLB career with the A’s in August 2023, allowing five runs in 4.1 innings in a spot start against the St. Louis Cardinals.
In August of this year, Watkins was released from his contract in Taiwan.
For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
