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University of Minnesota Athletics
Tom Windle Returns to Gophers as Student Assistant Coach
9/9/2021 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
Windle pitched with Minnesota from 2011-13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 9, 2021
Contact: E.J. Stevens
Former Gopher Standout Tom Windle Joins Coaching Staff
MINNEAPOLIS – The Golden Gopher Baseball program continued its busy off-season by adding former Golden Gopher star left-handed pitcher and MLB second round pick Tom Windle to the Gopher coaching staff. He has played for the past eight years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets affiliates, last playing for the Syracuse Mets, the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets this past summer.
He will begin his stint as a student assistant coach with the Gophers this fall, helping assistant coach Ty McDevitt with the Gopher pitchers. Windle will also be working towards earning his collegiate degree at the University of Minnesota. He departed after his junior year in 2013 to pursue a professional career.
"I'm so happy and excited to have Tom back at Minnesota as a student assistant coach, where he'll be working with our pitchers and finishing his degree," said head coach John Anderson. "He is a terrific person who's been in the shoes of our student-athletes and knows what it takes to succeed at a high level. His wealth of knowledge and experience as a professional player will provide significant value for our team and specifically the 19 pitchers on our staff. We're expecting big things out of this group in 2022 and it'll be great to have him and [assistant coach] Ty [McDevitt] working together to develop our pitchers this year."
A Maple Grove, Minn., native, Windle was one of the premier pitchers in the Big Ten Conference from 2011-2013, posting a career mark of 15-11 with a 2.26 ERA for John Anderson. He made 51 appearances in his three years in the maroon and gold, including 20 starts, 175 innings pitched and 158 strikeouts. As a junior, the 6-foot-4 left-hander was one of the best pitchers in college baseball, posting a team-best 2.14 ERA in 92 innings pitched. He also struck out 86 batters, leading to First Team All-Big Ten honors.
Windle was the last Gopher to throw a no-hitter when he blanked Western Illinois at the Metrodome in March of 2013. At the time, it was the first no-hitter by a Gopher hurler since 1993. As a freshman in 2011, Windle established himself as one of the best arms in the Big Ten, posting a 6-2 record with two saves and 35 strikeouts in 41.1 innings pitched. Windle's 1.52 ERA in 2011 is the best single-season earned run average of any pitcher during the John Anderson era. It stands as 10th best all-time in Gopher history for a single season. Windle was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team in 2011 and was named the Dave Winfield Pitcher of the Year for the Gophers in 2013.
"Gopher Baseball has helped shape me into the person that I am today," Windle said. "I am thankful to be given this opportunity to come back and work with the team this fall as I continue to finish my degree. I hope to create a positive impact and help these players grow and develop the way that I did in a Gopher uniform."
The former Osseo High School two-sport standout was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft (56th overall selection), the seventh-highest selection in the John Anderson era. He was the sixth Gopher left-handed pitcher to be selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB draft since 1986. He was Minnesota's highest MLB Draft selection of the past decade until Max Meyer was selected 3rd overall by the Miami Marlins in 2020.