Former Queensborough Community College All-American pitcher Ryan Sandberg has signed a professional contract with the Long Island Ducks organization of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB). Making his team debut on the same day that his signing was announced, Sandberg recorded a win in his one inning of shutout relief where he retired all three batters that he faced. Earlier this year, Sandberg spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers organization in Spring Training, making one appearance in a Spring Training game before being released.

Sandberg pitched for the Tigers for one season before transferring to NCAA Division I Florida Atlantic University, and then finishing his collegiate career at NCAA Division II Wilmington University.

Sandberg was a 2018 Third Team All-American for Queensborough as well as the Region XV Player of the Year and the CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year before transferring to FAU. After one season with the Owls, Sandberg pitched his final two seasons at Wilmington University, where he was a 2-time CACC All-Conference selection, the 2022 CACC Pitcher of the Year, and a 2022 unanimous First Team All-Region performer as selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA), and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). 

In his junior season at Wilmington, he finished with a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 2.70. As a senior, Sandberg finished with a record of 8-3 in 13 starts, tossing 78.0 innings and throwing a pair of complete games. He broke the Wilmington single season record with 110 strikeouts in a season, averaging 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He only walked 19 batters and finished with a 3.35 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was an outstanding 5.79.

In the summer of 2022, Sandberg pitched for the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League. The MLB Draft League, in its second year of existence at the time, was created by Major League Baseball and Prep Baseball Report to showcase top draft-eligible prospects. In 15.0 innings pitched for the Thunder, he struck out 21 batters, good for an average of 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings

Although Sandberg went undrafted, he signed with the Empire State Greys of the Frontier League for the 2023 season. The Frontier League is a professional baseball league that operates as one of four MLB Partner Leagues in the American independent baseball league system. After going 2-5 in eleven starts with 52 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched for the Greys, he was traded to the Quebec Capitales, where he helped them go on to win the 2023 Frontier League Championship.

The 2024 season with the Capitales was a spectacular one for Sandberg. In addition to winning a second consecutive Frontier League Championship, Ryan was also named the starting pitcher for the East Division in the 2024 Frontier League All-Star Game, where he was perfect in his one inning of work. Some of his many highlights included finishing the season with a record of 7-2 in fifteen starts (24 total appearances), with an earned run average of 2.18 and a minuscule WHIP of 0.91. He also struck out 107 batters in 103.1 innings pitched, while only surrendering 20 walks. His ERA was second best in the Frontier League, while his WHIP was the best in the league. In an unforgettable 2024 campaign, Sandberg also threw three innings of a combined no-hitter versus Lake Erie.

Ryan Sandberg LI Ducks Bio
Ryan Sandberg ALPB Statistics


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