Dylan Davis Haines Axelrod (born July 30, 1985) is an American pitching performance and integration coordinator for the Detroit Tigers.
At Santa Barbara High School, Axelrod was one of the 2003 Channel League Most Valuable Players, and First Team All-County.
[3] He had a 13–1 record as a pitcher his senior year at Santa Barbara High School, where Axelrod was named one of the team's Most Valuable Players (MVP).
The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table held inducted Axelrod into its Hall of Fame in 2018.
[3] He played for the Santa Barbara Foresters in the California Collegiate League (CCL) during the summer of 2006, and the team won the National Baseball Congress World Series title as he went 5–0 with a 2.01 ERA.
[9] Axelrod started 2010 with Winston-Salem, going 8–3 with a 1.99 ERA in 99+1⁄3 innings, and pitched two games for the Birmingham Barons of the Double–A Southern League.
[12] At the time of his promotion to the major leagues in 2011, he led all White Sox minor leaguers in ERA (2.69), strikeouts (132), and opponents' batting average (.227), and was 9–3.
[14] He made his MLB debut on September 7, pitching 2 scoreless innings in relief of starter John Danks in a game the White Sox lost, 5–4, to the Minnesota Twins.
Axelrod made his first Major League start a week later, on September 14 vs. the first-place Detroit Tigers, who were on an 11-game win streak.
It was announced prior to his start that Axelrod would assume Jake Peavy's place in the White Sox rotation for the remainder of the 2011 season.
Axelrod started two more games in the 2011 season: September 20 against Cleveland, pitching 4+2⁄3 innings and allowing seven hits and four runs; but was back on form September 26 against the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching six shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out six, and recording his first Major League win.
[25][26] At the opening tune of the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah,” each Team Israel pulled out a blue yarmulke.
[28] Following the 2023 season, Axelrod was let go by the Angels organization following Troy Percival's criticism of the use of iPads in player development.
[29] On December 28, 2023, Axelrod was hired by the Detroit Tigers to serve as the team's pitching performance and integration coordinator.