St. Louis Cardinals Reliever Packy Naughton

Packy Naughton showed up to Virginia Tech in 2014 as a left-handed pitcher from West Roxbury, Mass. After 3 seasons with the Hokies Packy was selected in the 9th round of the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

Over two seasons in the Reds organization, Packy climbed the ranks starting in Billings, Montana for the Mustangs in the Rookie Advanced Pioneer League, and then a few stops later (Dayton and Daytona) he eventually found himself with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League.

On August 31st 2020, the Reds traded Packy to the Los Angeles Angels, where he missed the entire season due to the cancellation of all Minor League Baseball due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Once 2021 kicked off, Packy was assigned to the Rocket City Trash Panda organization (Class AA South) following Spring Training. After just one start, he was promoted to the Salt Lake Bees (AAA West).

Finally on August 4th 2021 Packy Naughton made his MLB Debut in relief at Dodger Stadium against the reigning World Series Champion LA Dodgers.

Packy also notched his first start with the Angels later that season on September 1st against the New York Yankees.

Following the season the MLB entered a lockout once the Current Bargaining Agreement expired. This marked the 9th work stoppage in the history of Major League Baseball. This stemmed from a disagreement between the League and the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association). This lockout was not resolved until March 10th of 2022.

This was significant for the entire League, but specifically, Packy as he was coming off his first season of play in the Bigs and due to the lockout, no players were allowed to speak to coaches, GM's, or any team personnel for the entire duration of the lockout.

On March 18th (8 days after the lockout ends), Packy is released by the Angels and is quickly picked up by the Cardinals. After a brief stint in Memphis with the Red Birds (AAA International League), Packy has solidified himself as a reliable contributor out of the bullpen. As of July 27th, he has appeared in 18 games.

Stats for 2022

• 1st career save (July 7th vs the Braves)
  
• 3.47 ERA
• 21 Strikeouts
• 1.029 WHIP
  

One of the biggest highlights of the season came against the Dodgers where he got out of a no-out bases-loaded jam retiring Max Muncy -> Hanser Alberto -> Cody Bellinger.

Pat and Bill interview Packy about his decision to go to Tech, career timeline, and a bevy of other topics.