Written by: Will Willems, the Lebanon Reporter

For the second time this season, a Zionsville graduate has been called up to the big leagues. On Thursday morning, the Atlanta Braves announced they were calling up Parker Dunshee to the big league roster prior to their game against the Brewers. "This is awesome for him," Zionsville head coach Jered Moore, who was an assistant when Dunshee pitched for the Eagles said. "He's a great kid. He is a fantastic ball player, but an even better person. He has given so much to the Zionsville baseball, and Zionsville as a whole. It's pretty special to see him get this opportunity."

Dunshee, a 2013 Zionsville graduate, signed with the Braves this off-season. In 27 games in AA and AAA, Dunshee had a 2.30 ERA with four saves. He struck out 66 in 47 innings. Most of those appearances have been in AAA Gwinett, where he didn't allow a run in seven of his nine appearances during July and August. After a accomplished collegiate career at Wake Forest, Dunshee was selected in the seventh round of the 2017 MLB Draft by Oakland. He moved up fairly quickly in the A's system, making it to AAA in 2019 and earning a spot on the USA national team trying to qualify for the Olympics. But COVID and injuries ultimately ended his time with Oakland last spring, and he signed a minor league contract with the Giants last season.

"It's just rewarding to see a player who has stuck with it through some tough times get this chance," Moore said. "He was close a couple times and it didn't happen, but he didn't give up, stuck with it and now it is paying off." Dunshee is the third player ever from Zionsville to earn the call to the big leagues. Tom Mastny pitched for Cleveland from 2006-2009 and Jacob Hurtubise got called up by Cincinnati earlier this season. Nate Dohm was also drafted in the third round of this year's MLB Draft by the Mets. "For our program, whenever you see players have success like this it is big," Moore said. "It's special because our younger guys coming up saw these guys play in Zionsville uniforms and can see what they are doing now. It shows them that it is possible if you put in the work." Dunhsee pitched 2.1 innings in the game. He got off to a good start, retiring four of the first five batters he faced, including three strikeouts. But the Brewers were able to get to him in the next inning scoring five runs in the game.

Following the game, Dunshee was optioned back to AAA as the Braves are rotating arms in the bullpen ahead of a multi-city road trip.

@ WAKE FOREST

At Wake Forest University, Dunshee holds the program record in strikeouts with 330 over his four years and is one of just three pitchers in Demon Deacon history to have 100 or more strikeouts in two seasons.  Additionally, he is one of just seven pitchers in program history to have gone over the 25-win mark in his career.  He also ranks in the top 10 all-time in innings pitched (third - 326.1), wins (fifth - 28), and strikeouts per nine innings (10th - 9.10). 

A seventh-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2017, Dunshee has made 166 professional appearances over seven minor league seasons. He's logged 32 wins with five saves and has 611 strikeouts in 589.2 career innings.

UPDATE: 8/14/2024

The Braves announced today that outfielder Michael Harris II has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, as was expected. Outfielder Eli White was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot while right-hander Parker Dunshee was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.

Dunshee, 29, just had his contract selected last week, his first time on a big league roster in his career. In Thursday’s game, Charlie Morton had a rough outing, allowing eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Dunshee was sent in for some mop-up duty and ate up 2 1/3 innings but allowed five earned runs in the process. He was optioned to the minors the next day, meaning he’s currently sitting on an unsightly 19.29 earned run average in his very brief MLB career.

The trade deadline has now passed, so Atlanta will be putting Dunshee on waivers at some point in the coming days. Perhaps some club will be intrigued by his solid results in recent years, major league debut notwithstanding. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 112 minor league innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate in that time is a bit on the high side but he has struck out 29.4% of batters faced. He has a full slate of options and essentially no service time.