Hometown Hero: Naile named Cardinals top relief pitcher

Charleston native James Naile was recently awarded the Cardinal Nation’s Top Relief Pitcher across the St. Louis Cardinals’ entire system for 2023.

The 30-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games this past season for the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching 15.1 innings with seven strikeouts and an 8.8 ERA. Naile appeared in 31 games with three starts for the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cardinals, throwing 59 innings with 66 strikeouts and a 3.66 ERA.

Naile joined the Cardinals’ organization in November of 2021 when he signed a free-agent contract and made his MLB debut in a 9-0 win over the Miami Marlins on June 27, 2022.

Naile graduated from Charleston in 2011 and was the Standard Democrat Player of the Year. Naile pitched the Bluejays to a 1-0 win over the highly favored Valle Catholic Warriors in the state quarterfinal to get Charleston to the final four, the only final four in program history for Charleston baseball.

He was drafted in the 20th round in 2015 out of the University of Alabama-Birmingham by the Oakland A’s.

He spent six seasons in the A’s organization and was a 2018 opening-day starter for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and was named a Pacific Coast League all-star.