During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Board of Supervisors honored Pittsylvania County native, Tunstall High School graduate, and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Mantiply with a resolution and a proclamation that July 19 is “Joe Mantiply Day” in Pittsylvania County. Joe Mantiply established himself as an elite relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2022 season, breaking numerous records for left-handed pitchers and earning a spot in the MLB All-Star game as a reliever.

A Pittsylvania County native, Mantiply proved himself to be a strong pitcher while playing at Tunstall High School. He graduated with a high school career pitching record of 31-1, 328 career strikeouts, and a career ERA of 0.97. He earned numerous honors, including First Team All-State Pitcher in 2009, Piedmont District Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009, First Team All-Region IV Pitcher in 2008 and 2009.

Mantiply was drafted in the 48th round of the 2009 MLB draft after graduating from Tunstall and again in the 28th round of the 2012 draft, but he instead remained at Virginia Tech as a pitcher. While at VT, he went 20-16 with a 4.00 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 64 games (47 starts), over four (4) seasons from 2010 – 2013. Mantiply was drafted a third time in 2013, this time by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round.

He played for the New York Yankees twice before he was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2020. He appeared in 57 games during the 2021 season, showing himself to be a serviceable pitcher. In 2022, Mantiply had a major breakout season. Through his first 29 games of the 2022 season, Mantiply gave up just a single run. He broke a record for left-handed pitchers by going 34 games without walking a batter.

For the 2022 MLB season, Mantiply maintained the following stats through 69 games:

• A 1.08 WHIP (walks, and hits per inning pitched). The best pitchers in baseball have a WHIP of around 1.
• A 2.85 ERA (earned run average). An ERA below 3 is considered great.
• A 10/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is an excellent mark.
• 61 strikeouts over 60 innings pitched.

In a July story about the MLB All Star game, the Athletic dubbed Mantiply “this year’s least likely all-star.”

Mantiply was inducted into the Pittsylvania County Sports Hall of Fame on November 13.