Josh James

Joshua James (born March 8, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He played college baseball at Barry University and Western Oklahoma State College before being drafted by the Houston Astros in the 34th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut in 2018 and is best known for his fastball, which has reached 102 miles per hour. Early life Joshua Edward James was born to Ivan and Tricia James on March 8, 1993, in Hollywood, Florida. James' father, Ivan, is Puerto Rican and grew up on the island of St. Croix. James' mother, Tricia, was born on St. Thomas. James spent part of his childhood in the U.S. Virgin Islands along with his sister Joy. James attended South Broward High School in Hollywood, Florida, a marine science magnet school, where he was a three-year letterman. There, he was primarily an infielder and did not begin pitching until the age of 16. One of his teammates at South Broward was Jose Marmolejos, who would also go on to play Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners. In addition to baseball, James was a member of the basketball, golf, and track teams at South Broward. He also briefly played tennis. At Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, James' coaches converted him to a pitcher exclusively, but he only pitched five innings in 2012. He majored in Sport Management while at Barry. After his freshman year, James decided to pursue another collegiate opportunity, citing a lack of playing time and an inability to secure a scholarship at Barry. Though he initially was seeking a program in his home state of Florida, James eventually transferred to Western Oklahoma State College, a NJCAA DII college in Altus, Oklahoma. He was put into contact with Western Oklahoma coach Kurt Russel through one of his former coaches in the Virgin Islands, Darren Canton. Prior to James' arrival at Western Oklahoma, the Pioneers had qualified for five straight NCJAA DII World Series, winning a national championship in 2011 and losing in the championship game in 2012. Other WOSC alumni who played in MLB include Andrelton Simmons, Casey Sadler, Juan Perez, and Angel Castro. While at Western Oklahoma, James attempted to switch back to the infielder position but was informed by his coaches that he would find more success as a pitcher.