Matt Whatley (baseball)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matt Whatley
Texas Rangers
Catcher
Born: (1996-01-07) January 7, 1996 (age 25)
Claremore, Oklahoma
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Matthew Whatley (born January 7, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.

Career[]

Whatley attended Claremore High School in Claremore, Oklahoma. He received one offer to play college baseball in NCAA Division I, from Oral Roberts University.[1] He played for the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.[2][3] In 2016, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.[4] In 2017, he won the Johnny Bench Award.[5][6]

The Texas Rangers selected Whatley in the third round of the 2017 MLB draft.[7] He signed with the Rangers, receiving a $517,100 signing bonus.[8] He spent 2017 with both the AZL Rangers and the Spokane Indians, posting a combined .295 batting average with six home runs and 28 RBIs in 44 games between the two clubs.[9] Whatley began the 2018 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League[10] and was reassigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League at the end of the season. In 52 games between both teams, Whatley hit .179 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.[11] Whatley was assigned back to Hickory for the 2019 season,[12] hitting .234/.349./321/.670 with 4 home runs, 49 RBI, and 29 stolen bases.[13][14] Whatley played in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros following the 2019 season.[15] Whatley was named the Texas Rangers 2019 Minor League Defender of the Year.[16] Whatley did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References[]

  1. ^ Paul Suellentrop (February 1, 2017). "Oral Roberts, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech catchers candidates for Johnny Bench Award". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Mike Brown (June 12, 2017). "MLB Draft: ORU, former Zebras catcher Matt Whatley seems bound for next level". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Rick Heaton (May 19, 2017). "The time has come for Matt Whatley". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  4. ^ "Matthew Whatley". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  5. ^ Staff Report (June 5, 2017). "ORU catcher Matt Whatley a finalist for Johnny Bench Award". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  6. ^ Chase Shannon (June 29, 2017). "ORU's Whatley wins Johnny Bench Award". KAKE. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. ^ T.R. Sullivan (January 20, 2016). "Rangers select Matt Whatley in third round". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Sam Butler (January 20, 2016). "Rangers sign eight more Draft picks". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  9. ^ "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  10. ^ Rick Heaton (May 24, 2018). "Year two underway for Whatley, Howe, Battenfield". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  12. ^ Ashley Salinas (March 27, 2019). "Crawdads Announce Opening Night Roster". MiLB.com. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Jim Callis (October 3, 2019). "Whatley using hot start in AFL as proving ground". MLB.com. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  14. ^ Mark Parker (September 8, 2019). "Crawdads to tangle with Legends for SAL championship". Hickory Daily Record. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  15. ^ Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum (August 28, 2019). "Arizona Fall League rosters revealed". MLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  16. ^ John Blake (September 27, 2019). "Rangers announce 2019 Minor League Award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""