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Troy Eugene Percival (born August 9, 1969) is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball pitcher. He gained fame as a closer. He is currently the manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League. During a 14-year baseball career spanning from 1995 to 2009, he pitched for four Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, primarily with the California/Anaheim Angels. He was an integral part of that franchise's 2002 World Series championship team.
He had a career-high 42 saves in , and enjoyed his best season in with a 4–1 record, 40 saves, 68 strikeouts, and a 1.92 ERA. That year en route to winning the World Series, he was 7 for 7 in save opportunities, tying John Wetteland for most saves in one postseason (since tied by Brad Lidge, Koji Uehara and Greg Holland; Robb Nen was also 7 for 7 but blew one on the eighth opportunity).
A four-time All-Star, Percival compiled a 29–38 record with a 2.99 ERA in 586.2 innings for the Angels. His 355 saves grant him inclusion in the 300 save club. However, his strikeouts per nine innings went down considerably after his years as an elite closer. In , his K/9 rate was 11.08 and decreased to 5.98 in 2004. His fastball, once clocked consistently at 96–100 MPH, was down to about 92–93 MPH in 2004, due to a degenerative hip condition that first appeared in 2003, which forced him to alter his pitching delivery.
Percival's contract with the Angels expired in 2004 and he became a free agent at the end of that season. Rather than bring Percival back, the Angels decided to turn to young phenom Francisco Rodríguez to close, motivated largely by Rodríguez's much lower price tag and concerns about Percival's age and health. The Angels offered to negotiate a reduced role (at a correspondingly reduced salary) for Percival to return as a setup man, but Percival decided to seek opportunities elsewhere that would allow him to remain a closer.
After attempting to recuperate, Percival reported to spring training for the Tigers in . However, on his first outing he again suffered significant pain and left the team. After spending the entire 2006 season on the Tigers' disabled list and working for the team as an advance scout, Percival's contract with the Tigers expired at the end of the 2006 season.
Though he didn't pitch a game during the Tigers' run to the American League Championship, the team voted Percival a ring and a full playoff share. Appreciative of this gesture, he used the money to buy a suite at Comerica Park for his teammates' wives.
In November and December 2006, during his time off from baseball, Percival funded and personally built a new clubhouse at the Riverside Sports Complex, the home venue of his college baseball program, UC Riverside.
Percival made his first appearance in the Majors since 2005 on June 29, 2007, against the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out the first batter he faced, David Ross, and was also credited with the win.
On November 29, 2007, he signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. The contract contained up to $4 million in performance-based incentives. Percival was the team's primary closer in .
On May 22, 2009, a day after allowing two runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Oakland Athletics, Percival was placed on Tampa Bay's disabled list. On August 11, 2009, he announced that he was likely to retire, and would cease his attempts at coming back from his injury.
On January 12, 2024, Percival was announced as the manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League.
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