​Former UConn Huskies pitcher Anthony Kay put an exclamation
point on his comeback Major League Baseball season on Sunday as his Chicago
White Sox head to the playoffs.Kay was the winning pitcher in Chicago’s 4-2 win over the
visiting Colorado Rockies. He threw five innings and allowed one run on five
hits with two walks and four strikeouts.The 31-year-old finished the regular season with a 10-9
record and a 4.44 ERA in 33 appearances (31 starts). In 158 innings, he struck
out 129 batters.He became the fourth former Huskies
pitcher to win 10 games in a major league season, reported the X account
Huskies in the Pros.Now, he will be taking the field in his first-ever MLB
postseason with a franchise that lost at least 100 games in each of the past
three seasons. With a dugout filled with young position players, no one
anticipated in the preseason that the White Sox would be playing in October.”I don’t think anyone really expected it,” Kay
said postgame on Sunday. “I think we had a vision and we executed it. But
I don’t think anyone saw the kind of success that we had, and I think it was
really fun to be a part of. Hopefully we can continue it as long as
possible.”Anthony Kay signs autographs for young fans before the Sept, 22 game against the Kansas City Royals. William Purnell-Imagn ImagesCapping off the comebackAt UConn, Kay posted a 22-12 record with a 2.64 ERA over
three seasons (2014-16) with the Huskies. He struck out 263 batters in 286
innings. Coming out of high school on Long Island in New York, the Mets selected
him in the 29th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.He chose UConn instead, and the Mets drafted him again in
2016, this time in the first round with the 31st overall pick. He
was a second-team All-American and earned American Athletic Conference Pitcher
of the Year honors in 2016.Kay and George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays are the two most prominent former Huskies currently in the majors.At the trade deadline in 2019, the Mets traded Kay and
fellow pitcher Simeon Woods-Richardson to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Marcus
Stroman and cash.After parts of four seasons with the Blue Jays, he was
waived by Toronto in late 2022 and selected by the Chicago Cubs. He was waived,
again, by the Cubs and wound up back in the Mets organization. After the end of
the 2023 season, he was granted free agency.When he didn’t find a new MLB home, he went to Japan, where
he had a chance to pitch two full seasons. He was 15-15 with a 2.53 ERA,
striking out 249 batters over 291 2/3 innings.Last December, the White Sox signed Kay to a two-year, $12
million contract that includes a team option year for 2028.White Sox catcher Kyle Teel could catch pitches from Anthony Kay in the American League wild-card series, which begins Tuesday in Houston. Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesHow to watch Kay in the postseasonThe White Sox (84-78) open the best-of-three wild-card series
on Tuesday in Houston, where they will meet the Astros (81-81). All three games
– if a thi