Brent Clevlen
| Brent Clevlen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Wichita Wingnuts | |||
| Outfielder | |||
|
Born: October 27, 1983 Austin, Texas | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| July 30, 2006, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .233 | ||
| Home runs | 3 | ||
| Runs batted in | 7 | ||
| Teams | |||
Brent Aaron Clevlen (born October 27, 1983, in Austin, Texas) is an American professional baseball outfielder who has played parts of four major leagues seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves and is now playing for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League. The LMB is one of the three AAA leagues that plays under the Minor League Baseball affiliation. In his first season (2015) in Mexico's top league he was named to the starting All-Star team for the South and won the Home Run Derby Championship at the All-Star Game defeating 7 others including former MLB American League MVP Miguel Tejada.[1]
Personal life
Clevlen graduated from Westwood High School in 2002.[2] He is married and has a one-year-old son.
Major leagues
Clevlen was a 2nd-round pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2002 first-year player draft.[2] He made his Major League debut on July 30, 2006, in a 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Twins. He started at center field in his first game. His first catch in the field was intended to be a sacrifice fly by Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer, but ended up being an inning-ending double play, as Clevlen threw out Luis Castillo at home plate. In his first MLB at bat, he doubled off Twins ace Johan Santana.
On August 1, 2006, in his second Major League game, Clevlen hit his first major league home run against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 5th inning off pitcher Travis Harper. He later added another home run in the 9th inning off pitcher Ruddy Lugo going 3-for-5 for the night, with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.
Clevlen was optioned down to the Tiger's AAA-affiliate Toledo Mud Hens later in the 2006 season as Alexis Gómez emerged as a valuable bench player. Tigers manager Jim Leyland has stated that Clevlen would benefit from playing every day in Toledo, and remains second in the team's depth chart for center field. Following the season, Clevlen was named the third-best prospect and rated as possessing the best outfield arm in the Tigers' organization by Baseball America.
In 2007, Brent was called up when the Detroit Tigers expanded their rosters.
In 2008, Clevlen was called up in place of injured Clete Thomas, but returned to Toledo when Thomas was reactivated.[3]
On July 31, 2010, he played in for games for the Atlanta Braves and then was designated for assignment and became a free agent at the end of the season.
Clevlen was to start the season with the independent Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association, but was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds on May 9, 2011. He was returned to Wichita after playing in 26 games for Triple-A Louisville. After playing in 46 games for Wichita, Clevlen was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies and was assigned to Double-A Reading.[4] In all of 2011 (104 games), Clevlen hit .303 with 19 HR and 62 RBI.
On April 19, 2012, Clevlen signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and was assigned to Double-A Mobile.[5] He also spent time at Triple-A Reno. He also began 2013 in the Diamondbacks organization, splitting time with Mobile and Reno before being released. Over those 2 seasons (152 games), Clevlen hit .265 with 19 HR and 77 RBI in 523 PA.
On June 17, 2013 Clevlen returned to Wichita.[6] He continued to play with Wichita in 2014 and became the American Association MVP with a slash line of .372/.447/.647 [7] and signed with the Puebla Pericos of LIga Mexicano de Beisbol for the 2015 season.
On February 25, 2016, Clevlen signed with the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.
References
- ↑ "Brent Clevlen Ganador del Derby de Cuadrangulares".
- 1 2 "Clevlen cold, hungry", The Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Licata, June 19, 2003
- ↑ McCauley, Janie (June 18, 2008). "Polanco leads Tigers past Giants". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
- ↑ "Brent Clevlen Sold to Phillies". OurSports Central. August 5, 2011.
- ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (April 19, 2012). "Minor Moves: Pelzer, Clevlen". MLB Trade Rumors.
- ↑ "Big League Bat Returns To Wingnuts". WichitaWingnuts.com. June 19, 2013.
- ↑ "Wichita Wingnuts Brent Clevelen Named American Association MVP".
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)