Tyler Pike returns to Newman Outdoor Field for his tenth season of professional baseball and third with the RedHawks in 2021. After a great year in 2019, Pike struggled a bit in 2020, posting a 4-5 record with a 3.88 ERA, an increase from his 2019 numbers (8-3, 3.19 ERA). Pike led the RedHawks and was second in the American Association in 2020 with 87 strikeouts in just 69.2 innings pitched. He struck out 10+ in four starts last season, including matching his career single game high with 12 Ks in a 3-2 loss against Sioux Falls on August 18. He had previously struck out 12 batters on June 2, 2016 for the Bakersfield Blaze (A+, Seattle) in a 2-1 road win over the Stockton Ports (A+, Oakland). Pike didn’t get much help in his starts last season, with the RedHawks scoring three runs or fewer in each of his first five starts and managing more than four runs in just three of his 12 starts in 2020 — Pike won all three of those games.

Pike was originally selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 126th overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft after a stellar senior season at Winter Haven High School. He went 9-2 with a 0.51 ERA and 134 strikeouts for the Blue Devils as they reached the regional final before a loss to Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton) and was committed to play for Florida State before signing with the Mariners on June 14, 2012. Pike pitched for five seasons in the Mariners organization and reached Double-A with the Jackson Generals in 2015 before moving to the Atlanta Braves system and spending much of 2017 and 2018 at Double-A Mississippi before arriving with the RedHawks in 2019. Served as pitching coach for Webber International University (Babson Park, Fla.) in the offseason under manager Collin Martin, a Winter Haven native and the stepson of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.