Willingham Makes Major League Debut for Washington

WASHINGTON – Former Georgia Tech baseball standout and 17th-round pick Amos Willingham (Summerville, Ga./Chattooga (Snead State CC)) was promoted to the Washington Nationals’ Major League roster and made his Big League debut on Wednesday.

The Nationals defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-1 with Willingham pitching in the eighth, giving up one hit (a tough-luck line drive homer to left field).

One of seven Yellow Jackets drafted in 2019, Willingham has emerged as one of Washington’s top prospects, posting a 1.90 ERA and 4-1 record in 23.2 innings this season – 13 of them for Triple-A Rochester. Prior to Rochester, he was Double-A Harrisburg’s closer, recording five saves. The 6-foot-4, 24-year-old began turning heads this year when he turned in 10 shutout appearances, striking out 14 batters in 10.2 frames for Harrisburg.

Overall in his four-season minor league career, the Summerville native has posted a 3.84 ERA in 90 appearances and two starts, tallying 11 saves and 12 wins to just seven losses.

Only logging one year on The Flats after transferring from Snead State Community College, Willingham jumped on the scene in 2019 at Georgia Tech as a veteran midweek starter before assuming the Friday starter position for injured junior Xzavion Curry – who, coincidentally, was the previous Yellow Jacket to make his Major League debut (Aug. 15, 2022). He was instrumental in leading Georgia Tech to a 43-19 record and No. 3 National Seed in the NCAA Tournament where Atlanta played host to the NCAA Regional.

Willingham found his footing easy enough, finishing with an 8-2 record in 18 appearances and 13 starts, pitching 69.1 innings of work for a 5.19 ERA. He finished with 42 strikeouts and an opponents’ batting average of .285, while also pitching a part of a combined shutout. In three of his final four starts to 2019, including three postseason games, he only allowed more than two runs once, stringing together two-straight quality starts to finish the season.

Willingham’s appearance on Wednesday continued Georgia Tech’s storied tradition of producing professional talent, making him the 74th Major Leaguer in program history and 32nd player to make the Big Leagues under head coach Danny Hall.

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