Cole Figueroa
| Cole Figueroa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 24 | |||
| Second baseman / Third baseman | |||
|
Born: June 30, 1987 Tallahassee, Florida | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| May 16, 2014, for the Tampa Bay Rays | |||
| MLB statistics (through April 21, 2016) | |||
| Batting average | .200 | ||
| Home runs | 0 | ||
| Runs batted in | 6 | ||
| Teams | |||
| |||
Stephen Coleman Figueroa (born June 30, 1987) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the starting shortstop for University of Florida during his college career, and was drafted by San Diego Padres in the sixth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. He was also drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 9th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.
Early career
Figueroa attended Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida,[1] where he helped take the school's baseball team to the District 4A Championship. Figueroa played college baseball at the University of Florida for the Florida Gators while majoring in Sports Management. Figueroa's college achievements included All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman Team the SEC all-academic team. Figueroa was also named freshman All-American by rivals.com, Louisville Slugger, and Baseball America. He was selected to the Dick Howser Trophy watch list.
In 2008, Figueroa was named to the All-SEC academic team. He was named a Golden Spikes Award finalist along with being named to the midseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award. Figueroa led the Gators that year in average, home runs, RBI, Slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Figueroa also played two season in the Prestiges Cape Cod League, 2007 (Harwich) where he was named an all star and 2008 (Orleans)
Professional career
Tampa Bay Rays
Figueroa was drafted in the 6th round in the 2008 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. Figueroa received an over slot $400,000 signing bonus when he signed a contract with the Padres on July 5, 2008.[2]
The Padres traded Figueroa to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Brandon Gomes, Cesar Ramos, and Adam Russell in exchange for Jason Bartlett on December 17, 2010.[3] The Rays called up Figueroa to the major leagues on May 15, 2014[4] and he made his MLB debut two days later.[1]
New York Yankees
Figueroa signed with the New York Yankees organization on a minor league contract in December 2014.[5] He began the season with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League. The Yankees promoted Figueroa to the major leagues on July 9.[6] He elected free agency on November 6, 2015.[7]
Pittsburgh Pirates
On December 8, 2015, Figueroa signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.[8] On April 2, 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would make the Pirates Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder, beating out offseason acquisition Jason Rogers and incumbent Pedro Florimón for the job.[9] He hit .260/.321/.340 in 57 plate appearances in Spring Training.
Figueroa made his Pirates debut on April 8, fouling out to 3rd in a pinch hit appearance.
Personal life
Figueroa is the son of Cindy and Bien Figueroa. His father played in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Jim Henry, Tallahassee Democrat (May 17, 2014). "Former Lincoln SS Figueroa makes major-league debut". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Padres sign sixth-round pick Cole Figueroa". San Diego Padres. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "San Diego News, Local, California and National News | UTSanDiego.com". Signonsandiego.com. December 8, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Rays call up Cole Figueroa". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Minor League Transactions: Dec. 6–12". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Who is Yankees' recent call-up Cole Figueroa?". NJ.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "International League Transactions". milb.com. p. November 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- ↑ Polishuk, Mark (December 8, 2015). "Minor MLB Transactions: 12/8/15". mlb trade rumors. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- ↑ Wilmoth, Charlie (April 2, 2016). "Cole Figueroa to make Pirates' Opening Day roster". SB Nation.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Cole Figueroa on Twitter