Royals Where are They Now? Dan Reichert

After being named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year and a First Team College All-American at Pacific in 1997, right-hander Dan Reichert was the KC Royals first round pick (seventh overall) that same year. Despite being diagnosed with diabetes in 1998, he spent less than three seasons in the minors. I saw him briefly in 1998, as he made just two starts in High-A Wilmington.

Reichert made his Major League debut on July 16, 1999. Unfortunately, 2003 was his last season in the big leagues and that came with Toronto. From there, he bounced around.

In 2004, he pitched with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate (Indianapolis). In 2005, he started in the Seattle Mariners organization before making one of his many trips to independent baseball.

Reichert would continue to pitch in the indy leagues until the Cleveland Indians gave him a shot in 2008. He was then traded to Pittsburgh, where I saw him pitch in Double-A Altoona (and he did well). He was a veteran on a very young team and seemed to enjoy the mentoring aspect.

It was back to the indy leagues in 2009 and the Atlantic League, where he pitched very well. An 18-9, 3.95 ERA season for Southern Maryland in 2010 led to him pitching for Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball Leage) in 2011. He won his first ever championship in Taiwan.

Reichert returned to the states and Southern Maryland for his final season of pitching in 2012.

In 2013, Reichert was named the pitching coach for the independent Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association. It is the same team he pitched for in 2007 and the same team that the Royals received first baseman/DH Dennis Raben from this past June.

There are a few audio clips that you may find of interest: one is of Reichert this season talking about his baseball journey and the other called “Reichert’s Island” where he is interviewed on the Saltdogs pre-game radio show.

He now lives in Nebraska all year long.