Josh Vitters

Joshua Warren Vitters (born August 27, 1989) is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs.

Josh Vitters
Vitters with the Peoria Chiefs
Free agent
Third baseman/ Left fielder
Born: (1989-08-27) August 27, 1989
Anaheim, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 5, 2012, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Batting average.121
Home runs2
Runs batted in5
Teams

Amateur career

Vitters was an AFLAC All-American Prep Third Baseman for Cypress High School in Cypress, California.[1][2] He was also named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for California in 2007.[2] Vitters committed to attend Arizona State University on a scholarship, to play for the Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team.[3]

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs drafted Vitters with the third overall selection of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.[2][4][5][6] He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona Cubs of the Arizona League.[7] On April 3, 2014, he hit his first home run for the Iowa Cubs in a 10–2 loss to the Memphis Redbirds.[8]

Vitters was selected to appear in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game.[9] In mid-2009, the Cubs promoted Vitters from the Peoria Chiefs of the Class A Midwest League to the Daytona Cubs of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League.[9] He spent the 2010 season with Daytona and the Tennessee Smokies of the Class AA Southern League.[10]

The Cubs promoted Vitters and fellow prospect Brett Jackson from the Iowa Cubs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on August 5, 2012.[11] He made his Major League debut later that day as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers [12] On August 7, 2012, Vitters' was pinch hitting for pitcher Jeff Beliveau and made his first MLB hit for a double against the San Diego Padres in the seventh inning, scoring both Steve Clevenger and Darwin Barney. His first major league home run was on August 20, 2012 in the fifth inning against Mark Rogers of the Milwaukee Brewers.[13] On October 11, 2012, he was started playing in Venezuelan Professional Baseball League with Leones del Caracas and appeared 2 games. He started playing in the Minors in Triple A. On November 4, 2014, he granted Free Agency.

Bridgeport Bluefish

On March 15, 2016, Vitters signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Sioux City Explorers

On March 16, 2017, Vitters signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. He was released on June 21, 2017.

Québec Capitales

On April 12, 2018, Vitters signed with the Québec Capitales of the Can-Am League. He was released on June 24, 2018.

York Revolution

On March 10, 2020, Vitters signed with the York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.[14] He did not play a game for the team because of the cancellation of the ALPB season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and became a free agent after the year.

Personal

Josh's brother, Christian, played minor league baseball.[3]

References

  1. AFLAC All American, Josh Vitters - 2007 Archived October 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Cubs select third baseman Josh Vitters with third pick of First-Year Player Draft". Chicago Cubs. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  3. "SI.com - Writers - With power to all fields, Vitters a natural at the plate - Wednesday April 25, 2007 1:10PM". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  4. "2007 Draft Tracker". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  5. Draft Report for Josh Vitters
  6. 2007 MLB.com Draft Tracker
  7. "Notes: Vitters adjusting to pro game | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. May 24, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  8. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140403&content_id=70876986&fext=.jsp&vkey=recap&sid=t451
  9. "Chicago Cubs' prospect Josh Vitters playing it California cool - ESPN Chicago". Sports.espn.go.com. July 4, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  10. "Vitters out to accelerate climb to big leagues - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. October 31, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  11. "Cubs call up Vitters, Jackson". Chicago Tribune. August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  12. "MLB.com Gameday | MLB.com: Gameday". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  13. "Vitter's first career homer". mlb.com. MLB/Cubs. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  14. https://www.atlanticleague.com/stats/transactions/
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