Matt Whatley (baseball)
Matthew Whatley (born January 7, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.
| Matt Whatley | |
|---|---|
| Texas Rangers | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: January 7, 1996 Claremore, Oklahoma | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right |
Amateur 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]
Professional career
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 four home runs, 49 RBIs, 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. He spent the 2021 season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Central, hitting .203/.316/.282/.598 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.[11] He split the 2022 season between Frisco and the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, hitting a combined .228/.287/.328/.615 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI.[17]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ Mike Brown (June 12, 2017). "MLB Draft: ORU, former Zebras catcher Matt Whatley seems bound for next level". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Rick Heaton (May 19, 2017). "The time has come for Matt Whatley". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Matthew Whatley". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Staff Report (June 5, 2017). "ORU catcher Matt Whatley a finalist for Johnny Bench Award". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Chase Shannon (June 29, 2017). "ORU's Whatley wins Johnny Bench Award". KAKE. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ T.R. Sullivan (January 20, 2016). "Rangers select Matt Whatley in third round". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ Sam Butler (January 20, 2016). "Rangers sign eight more Draft picks". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ^ Rick Heaton (May 24, 2018). "Year two underway for Whatley, Howe, Battenfield". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
- ^ a b "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ Ashley Salinas (March 27, 2019). "Crawdads Announce Opening Night Roster". MiLB.com. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Jim Callis (October 3, 2019). "Whatley using hot start in AFL as proving ground". MLB.com. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ Mark Parker (September 8, 2019). "Crawdads to tangle with Legends for SAL championship". Hickory Daily Record. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum (August 28, 2019). "Arizona Fall League rosters revealed". MLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ John Blake (September 27, 2019). "Rangers announce 2019 Minor League Award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ "Barry Lewis: Top prospects, experience lead to high expectations for Drillers".
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Oral Roberts Golden Eagles bio
- Matt Whatley on Twitter