The ongoing story of former BYU pitcher Justin Sterner is happening because of his faith, talent and work ethic.
Sterner came from Laguna Niguel, California and initially wanted to play football. He wanted to follow the footsteps of his uncle, Garrett Tujague, a former BYU offensive lineman and current North Carolina State offensive line coach. However, he was drawn to becoming the first of his four siblings to take his talents to the diamond.
Sterner played at the highly touted prep school Dana Hills High School which ranked ninth nationally in his junior year. By the time he graduated in 2016, he received no offers and got an initial rejection from BYU. The righty went on to walk-on at BYU in 2018 after serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alpia, Samoa.
During his BYU tenure, he compiled a 2.86 ERA with 103 strikeouts in 100.2 innings pitched in three seasons. He went undrafted in the 2020 MLB draft, but signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins. He proceeded to grind and bounce around the minors for four seasons until he was called up by the Tampa Bay Rays on May 31, 2024. This past offseason, he was claimed off waivers by the Athletics and is now one of their key relief pitchers.
This résumé did not come as easy as one, two, three. At first, Sterner was not sure if baseball would be a significant part of his future at multiple points in his life. Despite this, there were key stepping stones along the way that made him push his arm talents to greater lengths and set him up for a bright future.
How his mission kept him pursuing baseball
Because Sterner had zero offers coming out of high school, this made the decision to serve a mission straightforward for him before he further pursued his talents. He has no regrets and looks back fondly on his time in Samoa.
Ua mae'a le galuega ma le manuia. Malo le tapua'i. Fa'afetai tele mo tou tatalo mo a'u. #GoodToBeBack pic.twitter.com/4fJ12tGaJj
— Justin Sterner (@JjSterner) August 12, 2017
“It was a good life experience getting to serve the people and forgetting about yourself and what I want in my life for a couple years,” Sterner said. “It also confirmed to me that I want to keep trying to play baseball … I’m going to put the work in and do whatever I can to keep playing.”
Serving the Lord helped pave the way for his future. He was able to receive confirmation and realization from the Lord that he has a future career in baseball, and he was going to do whatever he could to fulfill his dreams. This clarity motivated him to become a walk-on at BYU and give it his all.
Collegiate career
Taking two years off from any sport is bound to make anyone rusty once they begin playing it again. Predictably so, Sterner’s arm was extremely sore once he got throwing again. So much so that it almost derailed his chances of even making the team.
“During the fall of my freshman year, my arm just hurt all the time,” said Sterner. “I joke about it now with some of the coaches that are still there, but I sucked it up and threw in a scrimmage while my arm hurt. Thankfully, I did well enough because they told me later that if I sucked that day, I was going to get cut.”
Fighting through the pain made it all worth it for him. He went from appearing in just eight games out of the bullpen his freshman year to earning a starting rotation spot the following year. He spent that offseason playing in the Great West League on the Chico Heat in order to earn more pitching opportunities which is further proof of his tremendous work ethic.
Sterner was a stellar pitcher on the Cougars, and the numbers back it up. He went 8-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 27 games and 17 starts in three seasons there. He was a major contributor to their 2019 WCC regular season title. He attributes his success to Mike Littlewood, the head coach at the time.
“I loved BYU, and I loved having [Mike] Littlewood as a coach,” Sterner said. “He’s a bit old-school, but that is what worked for me."
The grind to the majors
Sterner’s junior season was unfortunately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The same day as the home opener for BYU was when everything got shut down, and he was scheduled to start that game. Who knows what his season stat line would have been if he got another full year in the starting rotation under his belt, but we can probably assume it would have been elite.
It was a devastating time for him and the whole team, but his Major League dreams found a glimmer of hope from unexpected sources.
“Coaches in the area of Salt Lake Community College and Utah kind of threw together a league for us to keep playing in case something would happen,” Sterner said. “Crazy enough, a [Miami] Marlins scout reached out to coach Littlewood and asked when I was throwing in this thrown together league.”
After the scout watched him throw, he offered him a contract to play for the organization. Initially, there was hesitation since his two younger brothers, Jack and Luke, were on BYU for the 2021 season. After thinking it through, he felt it would be best for his professional career to take agree to the contract. Opportunities like this are often a now or never situation, so he wisely chose to accept the deal.
Sterner proceeded to spend about three and a half seasons under the Marlins’ then the Tampa Bay Rays’ minor league systems. He primarily served as a bullpen pitcher and dished out a 4.01 ERA striking out 274 batters. His progression was steady and linear with nothing in his way to stop him.
On May 31, 2024, the Rays called him up to pitch in Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles. He went from being on the brink of getting cut from BYU six years ago to making it to the big stage.
Welcome to the show
Sterner would be lying if he said he was cool, calm, and collected in his first appearance on the bump as Orioles first baseman Ryan O’Hearn stepped up to the plate.
“If you came up to me and pushed me with a single finger I would have fallen over,” said Sterner. “I got that first pitch over the middle for a strike and from then on it’s baseball.”
Thankfully, he did his job while fighting through the nerves. In two innings pitched, he gave up two hits but no earned runs with two strikeouts. It was a debut where he looked strong on the mound and looked like he belonged.
Sterner went on to make one more appearance out of the bullpen before being sent back to Durham to finish the rest of the season in Triple-A. This was not much of a setback as the Rays had an immense amount of competition when it came to pitchers, so he knew he would get another chance elsewhere.
Where he stands with the A’s
Last November, the Athletics claimed Sterner off waivers and signed him to a one year deal with the club. He knew his opportunities with the A’s would be more abundant than with the Rays.
“In terms of opportunity to pitch in the big leagues, I’ve got a lot of it here as opposed to Tampa where I don’t think I would have got a lot of opportunity there,” Sterner said.
One of the Athletics bullpen roster spots was seized by Sterner after a remarkable spring training. In 10 appearances, he gave up no earned runs, allowed just five hits, and struck out 17 of the 43 batters faced.
His practically perfect spring training solidifies what Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said about his pitching style.
“He’s got a unique delivery and a unique arm slot which is a difference maker,” Kotsay said. “Bullpens are constructed differently and it helps to have guys who aren’t all the same which he provides.”
Difference-maker is an understatement at this point. Sterner has made his presence known this season, and it is not crazy to think he could make an All-Star team this year or in the near future. Despite the success, he knew this was earned through hard work and not given to him
“I had to earn everything. It’s been my whole life to just earn every opportunity,” said Sterner.
This mentality will hopefully fuel him to continue to develop into one of the best go-to guys in the A’s bullpen.
As his baseball story unfolds, Sterner will continue to rely on his faith, talent and work ethic.