Austin Pope

Austin Joseph Pope (born October 26, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Austin Pope
Arizona Diamondbacks – No. 66
Pitcher
Born: (1998-10-26) October 26, 1998 (age 26) White Plains, New York, U.S.
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 25, 2025, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
MLB statistics (through 2025 season)
Win–loss record	0–0
Earned run average	0.00
Strikeouts	1
Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks (2025–present)

Amateur career

A native of White Plains, New York, Pope played college baseball at Fairfield University. In 2018, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.^[1] Pope was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 15th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.^[2]

Professional career

Pope split his 2019 professional season between the rookie-level Arizona League Diamondbacks and rookie-level Missoula Osprey. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Pope returned to action in 2021 with the Single-A Visalia Rawhide and High-A Hillsboro Hops. In 26 appearances (15 starts) split between the two affiliates, he struggled to a 1-10 record and 7.50 ERA with 102 strikeouts and one save across 90 innings pitched.^[4] Pope split the 2022 campaign between the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks, Hillsboro, and the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles, accumulating a 4-2 record and 6.18 ERA with 47 strikeouts and three saves across 43+2⁄3 innings pitched.^[5]

In 2023, Pope made 48 appearances out of the bullpen split between Amarillo and the Triple-A Reno Aces, for whom he logged a cumulative 6-0 record and 3.64 ERA with 84 strikeouts and four saves across 66+2⁄3 innings of work.^[6] He returned to Reno for the 2024 campaign, registering a 6-5 record and 5.72 ERA with 70 strikeouts and one save across 56+2⁄3 innings pitched.

Pope began the 2025 season with Reno, and also made six appearances for the ACL Diamondbacks; in 25 outings for Reno, he posted a 0-3 record and 4.60 ERA with 34 strikeouts across 29+1⁄3 innings of work.^[7] On September 21, 2025, Pope was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.^[8] He made his MLB debut four days later against the Los Angeles Dodgers, throwing one strikeout over two scoreless innings in a 0–8 loss. Pope was sent down to the ACL Diamondbacks the following day.^[9]