Colby Rasmus

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**Colby Rasmus**

St. Louis Cardinals — No. 84
Center Field
Born: August 11, 1986 (1986-08-11) (age 21)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting Average	.000
Home runs	0
Runs Batted In	0
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2008-present)

Colby Ryan Rasmus (born August 11, 1986 in Columbus, Georgia) is a center fielder in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

1 Little League career
2 High school career
3 Professional career
- 3.1 Career statistics
4 See also
5 References
- 5.1 External links

[edit] Little League career

Rasmus played as pitcher and first baseman for Phenix City National Little League during the 1999 Little League World Series. Phenix City won the United States championship game^[1] before losing in the finals to Osaka, Japan 5-0.^[2] Rasmus finished the World Series with a batting average of .417 and a pitching record of 0-1 with 7 strikeouts.

[edit] High school career

Rasmus attended Russell County High School in Seale, Alabama. As a senior, he batted .484 with 24 home runs with 66 RBI and 69 runs scored in 39 games. His 24 home runs passed Bo Jackson for second all-time in the state for home runs in a season by a high school player. In a pre-draft workout, Rasmus was clocked at 94 mph throwing from center field. He also ran 60 yards in 6.7 seconds. Rasmus helped lead Russell County to a national championship in 2005 as they finished the season ranked first in both the National High School Baseball Coaches Association poll and the USA TODAY Super 25 baseball rankings.^[3]^[4] Rasmus graduated from Russell County High School in 2005.

[edit] Professional career

Rasmus was drafted by the Cardinals with the 28th pick of the first round out of high school. The pick was sent to the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in compensation for the Red Sox signing Edgar Rentería in free agency. Rasmus received a $1,000,000 signing bonus from the Cardinals.

Rasmus ended his 2006 season, his second in professional baseball, on the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals team. Between Low-A Quad Cities and High-A Palm Beach, he combined for a .288 average, 16 home runs, 26 doubles, 8 triples, and 28 stolen bases after getting off to a slow start in April.

He played for Double-A Springfield Cardinals in 2007, batting .275/.381/.551 with 29 home runs 72 RBI and 18 stolen bases. His 29 home runs led the AA minor league.

He won the Player-of-the-Month Award in August with his batting .365 and 12 home runs.

The Tulsa Drillers (AA) manager, Stu Cole commented on Rasmus' high level of talent: "If there was a five-tool player in the league last year, Rasmus was the one. He brought everything to the table. And defensively he made more plays to save his team runs. If the ball was in the air there was a chance you were going to see something exciting.".^[5]

He played in the Arizona Fall League during Winter of 2007 for Team USA. He batted .286 over the 6 games he played. ^[6]

He was a non-roster invitee to the Cardinals in Spring Training, 2008 to try to claim a regular spot in the lineup after the Cardinals traded Jim Edmonds on December 15, making the rare jump from AA directly to the majors without having played a game at the AAA level. However, this likely won't happen as the organization has said they'd rather not rush his development.^[7] On March 17, 2008, the Cardinals assigned Rasmus to AAA Memphis Redbirds, but he may be called up mid-2008.^[8]

[edit] Career statistics

Season	Team	League	BA	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	Johnson City (R)	APL	.296	62	216	47	64	16	5	7	27	21	73	13	3	.362	.514	.876
2006	Quad Cities (Low-A)	MWL	.310	78	303	49	94	22	3	11	50	29	55	17	5	.373	.512	.884
2006	Palm Beach (High-A)	FSL	.254	53	193	22	49	4	5	5	35	27	35	11	3	.351	.404	755
2007	Springfield (AA)	TXL	.275	128	472	93	130	37	3	29	72	70	108	18	3	.381	.551	.932
2008	Memphis (AAA)	PCL	.208	33	120	19	25	3	0	5	14	18	24	5	0	.307	.358	.665
Total			.278	354	1304	230	362	82	16	57	198	165	295	64	14	.359	.496	.855