Kyle McClellan announced on his personal Facebook page this week that he has officially retired from baseball at age 30. The right-hander made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2008 and eventually developed into a very good middle reliever, posting a career-best 2.27 ERA across 75 1/3 innings in 2010. But injuries to both of his shoulders eventually derailed his career, and he flamed out with the Rangers in June 2013.
Here is a portion of McClellan’s announcement ...My first thoughts were how thankful I am to the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers. First the Cardinals… The Cardinals drafted me when I was a 17 year old kid who grew up here in St. Louis as a lifelong Cardinal fan. During my time with the organization I not only grew as a baseball player but I grew as a person. I learned lessons in my 11 years with the Cardinals that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
The Texas Rangers…. I only spent one season with the Rangers but I will always be thankful for them because they gave me a chance after coming off of a surgery. They treated me with such respect and were honest with me from day one and that is something that I will always appreciate. I wasn’t able to perform to the level that I would have liked in my short time there and to those fans and teammates I apologize for that. I will always be a fan of the organization and am rooting for you.
I also need to thank the fans and my teammates. If it weren’t for the fans we would not have this great sport. I was so fortunate to be a part of two great fan bases who showed up every night to support the team. Many players can only hope to be a part of organizations and fan bases like these and I did not take that for granted.Follow @drewsilv
