Drew Butera

Drew Butera

Drew Butera with the Minnesota Twins in 2012
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – No. 3
Catcher
Born: August 9, 1983
Evansville, Indiana
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 9, 2010 for the Minnesota Twins
Career statistics
(through 2014 season)
Batting average .183
Hits 122
Home runs 8
Runs batted in 55
Teams

Andrew "Drew" Edward Butera (born August 9, 1983) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), 210 pounds (95 kg) right-hander is the son of former major league catcher Sal Butera.[1] Butera became the fifth catcher to catch a no hitter in both the American League (Francisco Liriano, 2011) and National League (Josh Beckett, 2014). Butera has also pitched scoreless innings in both leagues.

Career

Draft

Butera for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014

Upon graduation from Bishop Moore High School in Orlando, Florida, Butera was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 48th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign. He was then drafted in the fifth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft out of the University of Central Florida by the New York Mets.[2]

New York Mets

In 2007, Butera batted .258 with five home runs and 22 runs batted in for the St. Lucie Mets to be named a Florida State League All-Star. Following the All-Star game, Butera was promoted to the double-A Binghamton Mets. After a month at Binghamton, he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline along with Dustin Martin for second baseman Luis Castillo.

Minnesota Twins

On November 19, 2008, he was added to the Twins' 40 man roster.[3]

After playing winter ball with Lobos de Arecibo of the Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico,[4] Butera made the Twins out of spring training in 2010.[5] He made his major league debut on April 9, 2010 against the Chicago White Sox,[6] and got his first major league hit against the Cleveland Indians on April 22, 2010.[7] He hit his first MLB career home run in a 13–10 eleven-inning win against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 19.[8] As the Twins backup catcher he appeared in only 49 games in 2010, hitting .197. He got more playing time in 2011, because of injuries to Joe Mauer, and hit .167 in 93 games.[6]

On May 3, 2011 Butera caught Francisco Liriano's no-hitter.[9]

Butera began 2012 with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings after hitting .279 in 15 games with 1 home run and 5 RBI.[10] He was called up in May and hit .198 in 42 games.[6]

On May 20, 2012, Butera pitched the eighth inning of the Twins 16–4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Butera pitched a scoreless inning, issuing a walk and striking out Carlos Gomez.[11] He threw a fastball and a changeup.[12]

In 2013 he played for the Italy national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. When the regular season started he only appeared in 2 games for the Twins, spending most of his time with Rochester, where he hit .229 in 26 games.[13]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 31, 2013, Butera was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later. He was then optioned to AAA Albuquerque.[14][15] In 16 games with the Isotopes, he hit .135.[13] The Dodgers called him up on September 1.[16] He appeared in just five games for the Dodgers and had one hit in seven at bats.[6]

On May 15, 2014, in a 13-3 blowout loss to the Miami Marlins, Butera pitched a scoreless 9th inning, with his fastball reaching the mid-90s on the radar gun.[17] On May 25, 2014 Butera caught Josh Beckett's no-hitter becoming only the fifth catcher in Major League Baseball to catch a no-hitter in both leagues.[18] He was the Dodgers' backup catcher all season and hit .188 in 61 games with three home runs and 14 RBI.[6] The Dodgers designated him for assignment on December 5, 2014.[19]

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On December 9, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim acquired Butera from the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.[20][21] Minor leaguer Matt Long was sent to the Dodgers on December 18 to complete the trade.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sal Butera". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  2. ↑ Bryan Hoch (2005-06-08). "Q&A with Mets 5th Round Pick Drew Butera".
  3. ↑ Kelly Thesier (2008-11-19). "Twins add eight to 40-man roster". MLB.com.
  4. ↑ "Minor League Baseball". Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  5. ↑ Anthony DiComo (2010-03-31). "Twins want Ramos to grow at Triple-A". MLB.com.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Drew Butera statistics and history". baseball reference.
  7. ↑ "April 22, 2010 Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins play by play and box score". Baseball Reference.
  8. ↑ "June 19, 2010 Minnesota Twins at Philadelphia Phillies play by play and box score". baseball reference.
  9. ↑ "May 3, 2011 Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox play by play and box score". Baseball Reference.
  10. ↑ Bollinger, Rhett (May 1, 2012). "Butera to join Twins for tilt against Angels". MLB.com.
  11. ↑ "Box Score - Sunday, May 20, 2012". May 20, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool - Player Card: Drew Butera". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Drew Butera minor league statistics and history". Baseball Reference.
  14. ↑ Matthew Pouliot (2013-07-31). "Dodgers acquire catcher Drew Butera from Twins". NBC Sports.
  15. ↑ The Associated Press (2013-07-31). "Twins trade catcher Drew Butera to Dodgers". Yahoo! Sports.
  16. ↑ Ken Gurnick (September 1, 2013). "Dodgers add Butera, four others from Albuquerque". mlb.com.
  17. ↑ Jaffe, Jay. "Backup catcher Drew Butera impresses on the mound for Dodgers". Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  18. ↑ Hernandez, Dylan (May 26, 2014). "Josh Beckett's no-hitter is the second that Drew Butera has caught". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  19. ↑ Gleeman, Aaron (December 5, 2014). "Dodgers claim Ryan Lavarnway off waivers from Red Sox, drop Drew Butera". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  20. ↑ Gleeman, Aaron (December 9, 2014). "Angels acquire Drew Butera from Dodgers". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  21. ↑ "LA Angels get catcher Drew Butera from LA Dodgers". ESPN. Associated Press. December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  22. ↑ Gurnick, Ken (December 18, 2014). "Minors deals bring catcher Zarraga to Dodgers". MLB.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.

External links