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Matt Whatley (baseball)

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Matt Whatley
Texas Rangers – No. 89
Catcher
Born: (1996-01-07) January 7, 1996 (age 28)
Claremore, Oklahoma, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Matthew Whatley (born January 7, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.

Amateur career

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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

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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 High–A Carolina League[10] and was reassigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–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.[17]

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.[18] In 70 games for Round Rock in 2023, he batted .203/.290/.322 with 6 home runs, 25 RBI, and 5 stolen bases. Whatley elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2023.[19]

On November 27, 2023, Whatley re-signed with the Rangers organization on a minor league contract.[20]

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Mike Brown (June 12, 2017). "MLB Draft: ORU, former Zebras catcher Matt Whatley seems bound for next level". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Rick Heaton (May 19, 2017). "The time has come for Matt Whatley". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  4. ^ "Matthew Whatley". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  5. ^ Staff Report (June 5, 2017). "ORU catcher Matt Whatley a finalist for Johnny Bench Award". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  6. ^ Chase Shannon (June 29, 2017). "ORU's Whatley wins Johnny Bench Award". KAKE. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. ^ T.R. Sullivan (January 20, 2016). "Rangers select Matt Whatley in third round". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Sam Butler (January 20, 2016). "Rangers sign eight more Draft picks". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  9. ^ "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  10. ^ Rick Heaton (May 24, 2018). "Year two underway for Whatley, Howe, Battenfield". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Matt Whatley Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  12. ^ Ashley Salinas (March 27, 2019). "Crawdads Announce Opening Night Roster". MiLB.com. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Jim Callis (October 3, 2019). "Whatley using hot start in AFL as proving ground". MLB.com. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  14. ^ Mark Parker (September 8, 2019). "Crawdads to tangle with Legends for SAL championship". Hickory Daily Record. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  15. ^ Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum (August 28, 2019). "Arizona Fall League rosters revealed". MLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  16. ^ John Blake (September 27, 2019). "Rangers announce 2019 Minor League Award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  17. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  18. ^ World, Barry Lewis Tulsa (April 9, 2022). "Barry Lewis: Top prospects, experience lead to high expectations for Drillers". Tulsa World.
  19. ^ "2023 MiLB Free Agents". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  20. ^ "Transactions". MiLB.com.
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