Casey McGehee

Casey Michael McGehee (born October 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and Yomiuri Giants, and has also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, and Detroit Tigers.

This article is about the baseball player. For the Canadian football player, see Casey McGahee.

Casey McGehee
McGehee with the Yomiuri Giants in 2018
Third baseman
Born: (1982-10-12) October 12, 1982
Santa Cruz, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 2, 2008, for the Chicago Cubs
NPB: March 29, 2013, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Last appearance
MLB: September 27, 2016, for the Detroit Tigers
NPB: 2018, for the Yomiuri Giants
MLB statistics
Batting average.258
Home runs67
Runs batted in380
NPB statistics
Batting average.298
Home runs67
Runs batted in254
Teams
Career highlights and awards
MLB

NPB

Amateur career

Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, McGehee graduated from Soquel High School in Soquel, California, where he competed in baseball and basketball. In baseball, McGehee was a four-year letter winner and was named County Player of the Year for his junior and senior seasons. However, he finished 2nd in the league in batting average to Harbor High star, Mike Urbani, brother of former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Tom Urbani. His senior season he hit .489 with 10 home runs and did not strikeout once during the season. McGehee holds the SCCAL all-time hits record and was an AAU All-American for his junior and senior seasons. McGehee then attended California State University Fresno. At Fresno, McGehee played left field his freshman season before transitioning to third base as a sophomore. During his freshman season, McGehee was a Baseball America honorable mention freshman All-American. During his sophomore season, McGehee was co-MVP of the team, and after another excellent junior season, McGehee decided to leave Fresno to play in the MLB.[1]

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

McGehee was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the tenth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft out of Fresno State. McGehee was a September call-up for the Cubs in 2008,[2] making his major league debut on September 2. He went 0 for 1 in his first game.

McGehee batting for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009

Milwaukee Brewers

Following the season, he was claimed off of waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers, and added to their 40-man roster.

2009

On March 31, 2009, it was announced that he would be a reserve infielder for the Brewers in 2009. When Ryan Braun got injured, third baseman Bill Hall played at Braun's position in left field, while McGehee started at third base. When Rickie Weeks got injured, he made his first start at second base.[3] With Bill Hall struggling at the plate, and Mat Gamel struggling on defense, he saw a lot of time at third base. He hit his first home run on June 14, 2009 off of Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox; it was one of his two RBIs in the game. On June 29, 2009, he hit his first career grand slam off of New York Mets pitcher Brian Stokes, which came after he committed an error that led to two unearned runs. On July 4, McGehee had career highs of four hits and five RBIs against the Chicago Cubs. Although he came up short on the NL Rookie of the Year balloting for 2009, his solid season cemented him a starting job at third base for the Brewers in 2010.

2010

McGehee batted .285 with 23 home runs and a team-leading 104 RBIs in 157 games. On August 12, McGehee sets a team record with nine consecutive hits in going 4 for 4 in the Brewers' 8-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. McGehee hit a home run, a double, and two singles, driving in four and scoring three runs to lead Milwaukee. He grounded out in his first at-bat the next day to end his streak.[4] McGehee was voted the Brewers' Most Valuable Player. He edged out second baseman Rickie Weeks and outfielder Corey Hart for the award.

2011

In 2011, he batted .223 with 13 home runs, three of which came in the same game on August 3. All three were off of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Edwin Jackson.[5] He led all NL third basemen in errors, with 20.[5]

Pittsburgh Pirates
McGehee with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012

On December 12, 2011, hours after the Brewers agreed to a contract with Aramis Ramírez, McGehee was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for José Veras.[6]

New York Yankees
McGehee with the New York Yankees in 2012

On July 31, 2012, McGehee was traded to the New York Yankees for RHP Chad Qualls.[7] The Yankees traded for 1B/3B McGehee after injuries to Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.

On August 28, 2012, McGehee was optioned to Class-A Charleston to make room on the 25-man roster for a recently acquired Steve Pearce.[8] He was recalled when rosters expanded in September.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
McGehee with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

He signed a $1.5 million contract to play in Japan for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on December 21, 2012.[9] McGehee led the Golden Eagles to their 1st Japan Series title. Also leading the way were Japan Series MVP Manabu Mima, current Yankees star Masahiro Tanaka, and fellow former MLB outfielder Andruw Jones. In 144 games, mostly at third base, McGehee hit .292 with 28 HR and 93 RBI.

Miami Marlins

McGehee's period in Japan paid off, and on December 18, 2013, McGehee signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the Miami Marlins to start at third base. McGehee hit his first Marlins home run on May 10, despite hitting .309 with 23 RBI in 36 games before. It was in Miami that Casey earned his nickname "Hits McGehee." In 159 games of 2014, McGehee grounded into an MLB-leading 31 double plays while batting .289 with 4 home runs and 76 RBI, winning the Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award for the National League.

San Francisco Giants

On December 19, 2014, McGehee was traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for minor league pitchers Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo.[10] He began the 2015 season as the Giants starting third baseman but struggled and was designated for assignment on May 24.[11][12] On May 26, McGehee accepted an assignment to the Giants AAA team, the Sacramento River Cats,[13] but was recalled by the Giants on June 5 after batting .357 (15-for-42) with two homers and three doubles.[14] After appearing in a total of 49 games for the Giants and batting .213 he was designated for assignment again on June 30.[15]

Return to Miami Marlins

On July 10, 2015, the Miami Marlins signed McGehee to a one-year contract.[16]

Detroit Tigers

On February 23, 2016, the Detroit Tigers signed McGehee to a minor league contract.[17] On March 28, 2016, McGehee was released by the Tigers.[18] On March 30, the Tigers re-signed McGehee to a minor league contract.[19] On June 18, 2016, the Tigers purchased McGehee's contract from the Toledo Mud Hens.[20] In early August 2016, McGehee was called up to the major leagues by the Tigers following an injury to Nick Castellanos.[21]

Yomiuri Giants

On December 3, 2016, McGehee signed a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants that includes a club option for the 2018 season.[22]

Personal life

McGehee is married to wife, Sarah, and has two children, Mackail (Mack) and Cooper Reese.[23] Mack has Cerebral palsy.[24] They met in Jackson, Tennessee where Sarah lived and Casey played for the minor league West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved 2015-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Chicago Cubs add six players to active roster". MLB.com. September 1, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  3. "Weeks out for '09 with wrist tear". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 19, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  4. "McGehee sets Brewers Record with 9 straight hits", the Baseball Page
  5. "Casey McGehee Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  6. Haudricourt, Tom (December 12, 2011). "Brewers trade McGehee for Veras". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  7. Dierkes, Tim (July 31, 2012). "Pirates, Yankees Swap McGehee, Qualls".
  8. Axisa, Mike. "Yankees option Casey McGehee to Low-A Charleston". River Avenue Blues.
  9. Rakuten Eagles To Sign Casey McGehee
  10. Associated Press (December 20, 2014). "Giants trade for Casey McGehee". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  11. "Giants 3B McGehee designated for assignment". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  12. Schulman, Henry (May 25, 2015). "Giants Splash: The full story on Casey McGehee being cut from roster". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  13. Baggarly, Andrew (May 26, 2015). "UPDATED: Casey McGehee accepts minor league assignment (with a twist), will report to Triple-A Sacramento". Mercury News. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  14. Gitlin, Marty (June 5, 2015). "Report: Giants recall 3B Casey McGehee from Triple-A". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  15. "Casey McGehee designated for assignment by Giants". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 30, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  16. Gleeman, Aaron (July 9, 2015). "Casey McGehee returns to Marlins after being cut by Giants". Hardball Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved July 26, 2015. McGehee played for the Marlins last season and was named NL Comeback Player of the Year,
  17. Beck, Jason (February 23, 2016). "Tigers, McGehee agree on Minors deal". MLB.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  18. Beck, Jason (March 28, 2016). "Tigers release Parnell, option Rondon to Minors". MLB.com. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  19. Beck, Jason (March 30, 2016). "Tigers re-sign Parnell, McGehee to Minors deals". MLB.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  20. McCosky, Chris (June 18, 2016). "Tigers call up infielder Casey McGehee from Toledo". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  21. Beck, Jason (August 7, 2016). "Castellanos breaks bone in left hand on HBP". MLB.com. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  22. Byrne, Connor (December 3, 2016). "Casey McGehee To Sign With Japan's Yomiuri Giants". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  23. Shearer, Kati (March 28, 2011). "Behind home plate through the eyes of Mrs. McGehee". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  24. Navarro, Manny (April 8, 2014). "Casey McGehee happy for new chance with Miami Marlins". Miami Herald.
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