Kyle Molnar

Molnar was born in Upland, California, to David and Kristin Molnar, and his hometown is Aliso Viejo, California.^[1] He attended and graduated from Aliso Niguel High School.^[2] As a freshman he was 5-3 with a 1.44 ERA, as a sophomore he was 8-3 record with a 2.25 ERA, as a junior he was 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA, and as a senior he was 7-4 with a 1.57 ERA; he threw a mid-90s fastball regularly.^[3][1] He also played the outfield.^[4] He was named 2013 and 2014 Perfect Game USA Underclass First Team All-American, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Second Team, and 2014 All-CIF Southern Section Division II First Team, to the 2014 Rawlings Top Prospect team at the Perfect Game USA National Showcase, and to the All-Tournament Team at the 17U Perfect Game USA World Series.^[1] He was also ranked No. 47 on Baseball America’s Top 50 Prospects for the 2015 MLB Draft, No. 23 on Baseball America’s 2015 Top 100 High School Prospects, a 2015 Perfect Game USA first team All-American, a 2015 Perfect Game USA California Region first team All-American, ranked No. 8 on Perfect Game USA’s 2015 list of Top 500 High School prospects in California, and competed for the gold-medal winning U.S. 18U National Team at the 18U COPABE Pan American Championship, where he threw back-to-back one-hitters against Panama and Mexico.^[1]

He then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins, for whom he was 6-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 14 games (13 starts).^[5] In 2016 his 72 strikeouts were ninth in the Pac-12 and second among Pac-12 freshmen, and he was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and honorable mention All-Pac-12.^[1] Due to a torn elbow ligament that resulted in Tommy John surgery, he did not play in 2017, and pitched only one inning in 2018.^[1] He had a second elbow ligament reconstruction in May 2018.^[3]

The Los Angeles Angels selected him in the 26th round, with the 781st overall selection, of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.^[3] Molnar did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

In 2021, Molnar made his professional debut, splitting time between the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils and Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas. In 25 appearances between the two affiliates, Molnar struggled to a 2-3 record and 7.14 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 2 saves in 40.1 innings pitched.^[7] Hs split the 2022 season between Tri-City and the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers, posting a combined 5-0 record and 2.31 ERA with 47 strikeouts across 28 appearances. On August 25, 2022, Molnar was released by the Angels organization.^[8]

Molnar is Jewish, and was called up to the Israel national baseball team for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.^[9] He pitched in it against the Dominican Republic national baseball team.^[10]

• List of baseball players who underwent Tommy John surgery