Bryan Paul Bullington (born September 30, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Bullington was the first overall selection in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hiroshima Carp and the Orix Buffaloes.
High school career
During his senior year at Madison Consolidated High School, Bullington was 15–0, and pitched a one-hit game to win the 1999 Indiana High School Athletic Association Baseball State Finals. Bullington was named Mr. Baseball for the state of Indiana in 1999; an award presented annually to the best high school baseball player in Indiana. Bullington was drafted in the 37th round of that year's Major League draft by the Kansas City Royals, but decided not to sign and attended college instead. He was recruited by Ball State, Purdue, Evansville, and Indiana.
College career
2000
Bullington decided to follow both his parents and older sister in attending Ball State. During his freshman season, an injury to staff ace Justin Wechsler allowed Bullington to become the Friday night starter. He went 9–4 with a 3.83 ERA during his freshman year, tallying a Mid-American Conference season-high 99 strikeouts. He was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and received first-team all-conference honors.
2001
With Bullington atop the rotation, the Cardinals put together a great 2001 season, going 21–5 in the Mid-American Conference and winning the regular season title. Bullington went 9–3 during the regular season with a conference-best 3.01 ERA, and was honored as a unanimous choice for MAC's Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first Cardinal to win the award. Bullington started the Cardinals opening game of the conference tournament against Miami University, but was removed in the first inning after being struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of Brady Nori. The Cardinals were upset by the RedHawks 13–5. Despite his injury, Bullington came back and pitched 3 days later in their semi-final game against Kent State. He was tagged for 10 hits and 7 runs over 6 innings, taking the loss and eliminating the Cardinals from the tournament. Despite his rough finish, he ended the season with a 9–4 record and a 3.50 ERA. Most notably, his 119 strikeouts on the season led the conference once again and broke Ball State's all-time single season strikeout record. He went on to pitch for the U.S. National Team that summer.