Meet Tyler Uberstine: How Inspirational Red Sox RHP Went From A Parking Lot Throwing Session To Cusp Of MLB

Uberstine, a 6-foot-1 righthander, had spent some time on the baseball team in high school for Chaminade Prep, a member of the prestigious Mission League in California. Uberstine, however, barely played. He logged fewer than 10 total varsity innings—all in his senior year. 

Despite his efforts, Uberstine received no college baseball offers out of high school, and he enrolled at USC as a business major in the fall of 2017. At that point in his life, the idea of playing professional baseball was the furthest thing from his mind. Certainly, it was not a reasonable option for someone just looking to play club-level baseball.

Despite these humble beginnings, Uberstine seven years later is pitching for the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Worcester and finds himself ranked as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s system.

When asked why he chose a lamp-lit parking lot and not a field that night in preparation for tryouts, Uberstine laughed at the memory.

“We just wanted somewhere to throw to get ready for club tryouts,” he said. “And we were way too embarrassed to go down to the varsity fields and warm up.”

While Uberstine, just a freshman, might have been embarrassed to throw alongside Division I players, little did he know that tryout would be the beginning of a long and eventful journey to professional baseball. It was a journey that seemed even less likely when Uberstine was eventually cut from the club team at USC. However, had he not been cut from the team, he may never have taken the necessary steps over the next 24 months to jumpstart his future as a professional baseball player.

Setting His Sights Higher

Following his dismissal from USC’s club team, Uberstine made up his mind on an even loftier goal: He was going to train as hard as he could and try out for USC’s varsity team instead.

Uberstine began working at the PFA Sports training facility in Upland, Calif. with founder Dave Coggin, taking an hour-plus Uber ride to and from each session. He would attend sessions in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, leaving campus at 6 a.m. and returning after his workout for a full day of classes. 

“It was a cool time, because I didn’t know a lot about pro ball,” Uberstine said. “So, here I was, this little freshman, and Joe Kelly and Carter Capps are working out alongside me. I didn’t even realize at the time who I was playing catch with.”

Uberstine spent seven months working out at PFA and signed up for a summer ball high school team in order to get some competitive at-bats before the start of his sophomore year. Leading up to fall ball in 2018, he was granted permission by USC coach Dan Hubbs to try out for the varsity team. His work during fall ball impressed the staff enough to earn an invite to winter sessions leading up to the spring season.  

As he trained with the team during offseason workouts, Uberstine started to see his velocity tick up week after week. Initially sitting 83-86 mph, he jumped to 84-87 and then 86-88 mph. Uberstine was making progress in a way he never had before and, during late offseason workouts just weeks before the season, he hit 90 mph for the first time.

“I was on an actual training regimen—something I never had before,” Uberstine said. “So when January came around, I was 87-88 mph touching 90 mph.”

Leading up to the 2019 season, all signs pointed to Uberstine making the team. He participated in Trojans media day and received his custom glove. Then, two days before the regular season schedule was set to begin, Uberstine received a text from Hubbs requesting a meeting in his office. There Uberstine received the news—he hadn’t made the final roster after all.

Uberstine was floored. And it left him facing another critical choice.

“I could either quit baseball, like I did in the past when I didn’t get a chance,” he said. “But I realized I was good enough to try and go somewhere else and compete for a spot.” 

And that’s exactly what Uberstine did.

The Road To Pro Ball

Rather than calling it a career and focusing on his degree, Uberstine instead looked at his latest setback as just another challenge en route to achieving his dream. And so that spring, he enlisted the help of former MLB pitcher Joe Beimel to help him get to the next level. This next stage in his development proved to be exactly the platform Uberstine needed, as he once more saw gains in both velocity and pitch performance. 

Heading into the summer of 2019, Uberstine was in contact with several Division I programs. One in particular seemed to take real interest in him—Northwestern. But while Northwestern liked what Uberstine had to offer, they couldn’t guarantee him a roster spot for the following season. Things progressed, and Uberstine stayed in contact with the coaching staff until, eventually, a spot on the Wildcats’ roster opened and he committed to Northwestern. 

As a redshirt sophomore in 2020, Uberstine made four starts for Northwestern. He pitched well, logging a 2.86 ERA over 22 innings striking out 15 and walking seven to begin the season. After all the work and training he’d done, it seemed things had finally begun to break for his baseball career.

And then the entire world stopped. 

In March 2020, Uberstine’s debut season with the Wildcats was cut short after the covid pandemic erupted, shutting down the college season and just about everything else.

As is often the case, however, even in the worst of times, opportunities present themselves. As baseball seasons were cancelled across the country, area scouts shifted their time spent to studying video. Without live games, video systems like those provided by Synergy Sports became the only way to evaluate players.

And that’s exactly how Red Sox scout Alonzo Wright discovered Uberstine.

One start in particular on February 23 against South Carolina caught Wright’s attention.

“It was my first year, and I did some diving on Synergy,” Wright said, recalling his discovery of Uberstine. “He had a crazy outing against South Carolina during the covid-shortened season. After I met with him over Zoom during Christmas break, he was my ‘gut feel guy ‘in our January meetings.” 

While that belief from Wright would eventually lead to an opportunity to make the jump to pro ball, there were still more hurdles to clear. Now 22 years old, Uberstine’s 2021 season at Northwestern didn’t go as planned. The college baseball world at the time was still navigating covid testing, shutdowns and canceled series. Uberstine also dealt with a bout of mono during the season, limiting him to just 39.2 innings with a 5.90 ERA over nine starts. Following the season, Uberstine pitched in the MLB Draft League to get further face time with scouts. 

Despite the down season, the Red Sox still believed in Uberstine enough to take a chance on him in the 19th round of the 2021 draft. Uberstine signed for $97,500 and began his professional career shortly thereafter with the team’s Florida Complex League team. He made five appearances with the FCL Red Sox that summer, allowing only one run over 7.1 innings and striking out eight against a lone walk.

Assigned to Low-A Salem to begin 2022, Uberstine impressed, earning a promotion to High-Greenville to end the year. In his first full season, he made 21 appearances, pitching to a 3.83 ERA over 91.2 innings with 101 strikeouts to 35 walks. In just one professional season, Uberstine had eclipsed his innings total from all of college and high school combined.

For the first time in a while, Uberstine entered that offseason with real momentum. With a full season of pro ball under his belt, he now knew what to expect. As such, he took his training to another level that offseason, as he was no longer just looking to survive in college ball or get a shot as a professional.

He was now determined to prove he was, in fact, a legitimate baseball prospect.

Return From Injury & Rise Through The Minors

Entering 2023, Uberstine felt like he was in the best shape of his life. He boasted a revamped arsenal featuring an added sinker and sweeper that really played from his low arm slot. He once again excelled in spring training, sitting 92-94 mph and regularly touching 95.

But, yet again, it would not be smooth sailing.

In his final minor league spring training appearance, Uberstine yanked a changeup. Immediately, he knew something was wrong with his arm. 

Uberstine had Tommy John surgery in June 2023. He wouldn’t return to the mound in an affiliated game until August 23, 2024. With a year and a half between appearances, he was forced to endure yet another daunting career roadblock. But, in the end, it would be just another hurdle cleared, as Uberstine came back to pitch in the Arizona Fall League following the 2024 season, looking to make up for more lost time. 

Entering the 2025 season on the heels of such a challenging seven-year stretch, Uberstine was something of an afterthought in the deepest farm system in baseball. No one was expecting the soon-to-be 26-year-old and former 19th-round pick with elbow injury history to make much of an impact with the Red Sox. So when he was named Double-A Portland’s Opening Day starter, it was one of the prouder moments of Uberstine’s career. 

Over six starts, Uberstine pitched to a 3.64 ERA, striking out 35 batters against four walks in 29.2 innings. When he was promoted to Triple-A Worcester in May, it was mostly viewed as a roster-filling move.

Uberstine, however, thought otherwise.

In the months that have followed his promotion, Uberstine has pitched his way into conversations regarding Red Sox upper minors depth. Over 13 appearances to date with Worcester, he owns a 3.50 ERA with 71 strikeouts to 22 walks in what is a notoriously-tricky Triple-A run environment. Though the path to this point has been anything but easy, Uberstine now finds himself just a callup away from the major leagues.

Not bad for a midnight throwing session in a college parking lot all those years ago.