Jonathan Roy Broxton (born June 16, 1984) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. High school career Broxton attended Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia. As a senior for the Bears, he posted a 9–2 record and a 1.21 earned run average as a pitcher. As a hitter, he had a .596 batting average with seven home runs. As a teenager, Broxton stood tall, weighed and was athletic enough to dunk a basketball with two hands. The football coaches at his high school tried unsuccessfully to convince him to play football as a lineman. Broxton committed to play college baseball at Georgia Southern. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round in 2002 MLB draft and signed with them for $685,000 on June 30, . Playing career Minor leagues In the minor leagues, from 2002 to 2006, Broxton was 23–11 with 12 saves and a 3.03 ERA in 303 innings. He struck out 332 batters, while walking 115 and giving up 244 hits. His minor league teams were the Great Falls Dodgers of the Pioneer League, the South Georgia Waves of the South Atlantic League, the Vero Beach Dodgers of the Florida State League, and the "AA" Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League. Los Angeles Dodgers Broxton made his MLB debut on July 29, 2005, against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching one inning in relief, allowing one run, and striking out two. His first MLB strikeout victim was Cardinals Albert Pujols. During the 2005 campaign, he appeared in 14 games, all in relief, striking out 22 batters in only innings. Broxton began the 2006 season with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s. After allowing no runs in 11 appearances (with 18 strikeouts), on May 1, 2006, Broxton was recalled from the minors after the demotion of veteran Lance Carter. After gradually gaining the confidence of manager Grady Little, Broxton became Takashi Saito's primary setup man, and the team's backup closer. He held batters to a .159 Batting average with runners in scoring position, and held right-handed batters to a .196 batting average. He appeared in a career-high 83 games for the Dodgers, third most in the National League and fourth most in franchise history. He threw 99 strikeouts (second