Trevor Plouffe

Trevor Plouffe
Plouffe with the Minnesota Twins
Free agent
Third baseman / First baseman
Born: (1986-06-15) June 15, 1986
West Hills, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 21, 2010, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average .242
Home runs 106
Runs batted in 379
Teams
Medals
Men’s baseball
Representing  United States
Baseball World Cup
2009 Nettuno National team

Trevor Patrick Plouffe (/pluːf/ PLOOF; born June 15, 1986) is an American professional baseball third baseman who is currently a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics,Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies. After beginning his MLB career as a shortstop for the Twins in 2010, Plouffe has appeared at every position except for pitcher, catcher, and center field.

Amateur career

Born in West Hills, California, Plouffe attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California, the alma matter of former major leaguers, Jeff Suppan and Rick Dempsey. At Crespi High, Plouffe was named a 2004 Collegiate Baseball News High School All-American as a senior. As a star shortstop and right-handed pitcher, Plouffe led Crespi to their first section baseball championship in 2003 as a junior [1] and also held a 3.8 GPA.[2]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Plouffe was drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of high school as a shortstop with the 20th overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, and turned down a scholarship to the University of Southern California to play major league baseball. After signing for $1.5 million, Plouffe spent the 2004 season with the Rookie-level Elizabethton Twins. He batted .283 and was named the league's sixth best prospect by Baseball America. Plouffe spent 2005 with the Midwest League's Beloit Snappers, where he was again recognized as one of the league's top prospects, this time ranking 12th overall.

In 2006, Plouffe played for the Fort Myers Miracle of the Florida State League. During the season, he played third base in 25 games, the first time he had played a position other than shortstop as a professional.

In 2007, Plouffe was promoted to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats. He was chosen as the Twins' Minor League Player of the Week (April 27 – May 3), Eastern League Player of the Week (May 28 – June 3) and an Arizona Fall League Rising Star.

Plouffe split the 2008 season between the Rock Cats and Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, where he hit a combined .262 with nine home runs and sixty RBIs. With the Red Wings, he was used at second base as well as third base and shortstop. After the season, on November 20, Plouffe was added to the Twins' 40-man roster.[3]

In 2009, Plouffe spent the entire year in Rochester. He also returned to playing shortstop full-time while batting .260 in 118 games.

Major leagues

Minnesota Twins

After starting the 2010 season with Rochester, he was called up to the Twins on May 20, replacing pitcher Jeff Manship on the 25-man roster.[4] He started his first major league game for the Twins on May 21 against the Milwaukee Brewers, singling and driving in a run in his first big league at bat. Plouffe remained with the club through June 19, batting .130 in seven games over his time with the club. Plouffe was recalled again on July 30, after an injury to Twins infielder Nick Punto. Plouffe finished the season playing a total of 22 games while hitting just .146 in 41 at bats. Plouffe returned to the Red Wings at the start of the 2011 season. After a fast start in which he batted .282 with 6 home runs in 21 games, Plouffe was called up on May 6. That day, he started at shortstop against the Boston Red Sox, and in his first at bat hit a home run over the Green Monster off of Tim Wakefield. In 81 games, Plouffe hit 8 home runs while hitting .238 for the Twins.

After starting the 2012 season poorly, Plouffe embarked on a power surge at mid-season, hitting 11 home runs in the month of June.[5][6] He became the Twins' everyday third baseman after Danny Valencia was demoted to Triple-A Rochester in early May. Plouffe hit a career high 24 home runs in 119 games. Plouffe was the starting third baseman for most of the 2013 season and played 129 games. He was somewhat inconsistent in both hitting and fielding despite hitting a career high .254 for the Twins.[7]

Plouffe established career highs in several offensive categories in 2014, as well as improving his defense tremendously. He hit .258/14/80 with 40 doubles, leading the team in both latter categories. He was outrighted off the Twins roster after the 2016 season and became a free agent.[8]

Oakland Athletics

On January 18, 2017, Plouffe signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics.[9] He was designated for assignment on June 15, 2017.[10]

Tampa Bay Rays

On June 17, 2017, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Plouffe for cash considerations.[11] The team designated Plouffe for assignment on August 22.

Texas Rangers

On February 12, 2018, Plouffe signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.[12] He was released on March 23,[13] and signed a new minor league contract with the Rangers on March 26.[14] On April 10, Plouffe asked for and was granted his release from the Rangers organization.[15]

Philadelphia Phillies

On April 23, 2018, Plouffe signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.[16] He had his contract purchased by the Phillies on July 10. On July 24, Plouffe hit a walk-off home run off Los Angeles Dodgers' second basemen Enrique Hernández in the bottom of the 16th to give the Phillies a 7–4 win in a game that took just over 6 hours to complete (the game ended at around 1am local time). It was the first walk-off home run to be hit off a position player in MLB history.[17] Plouffe was designated for assignment on July 31, 2018,[18] and sent outright to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on August 5.[19] Plouffe declared free agency on October 5, 2018.[20]

Personal

Plouffe and his wife Olivia were married at Pepperdine University's Stauffer Chapel. They have two children.

References

  1. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (June 8, 2003). "Plouffe Directs Crespi's Victory". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (May 21, 2003). "Plouffe a Magician With Bat and Arm". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ↑ "Twins add eight to 40-man roster". Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Plouffe to start at shortstop for Twins; GoGo in center for the Brewers". Startribune.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins - Box Score - June 30, 2012 - ESPN". Scores.espn.go.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Twins' release of Plouffe among several moves". Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  9. ↑ Lee, Jane (January 18, 2017). "A's, Plouffe agree to 1-year contract". MLB.com. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  10. ↑ Lee, Jane (June 15, 2017). "A's promote prospect Chapman from Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Trevor Plouffe traded to Rays two days after being designated for assignment by A's". espn.com. June 17, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  12. ↑ Todd, Jeff (February 13, 2018). "Rangers Sign Trevor Plouffe". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Trevor Plouffe: Released by Rangers". cbssports.com. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Colon, Plouffe back on Minors deals". MLB.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ Adams, Steve (April 10, 2018). "Rangers Grant Trevor Plouffe His Release". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  16. ↑ Todd, Jeff (April 23, 2018). "Phillies to Sign Trevor Plouffe". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  17. ↑ Gatto, Tom (July 25, 2018). "Phillies walk off Dodgers in 16 with history-making home run; inside the weirdness". SportingNews.com. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Phillies' Aaron Loup: Dealt to Phillies". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Phillies Transactions". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  20. ↑ Todd, Jeff (October 8, 2018). "Players Electing Free Agency". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
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