Scooter Gennett

Ryan Joseph "Scooter" Gennett (born May 1, 1990) is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers. He is one of 17 players in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game.

Professional career

Minor league

Gennett was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 16th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft out of Sarasota High School in Sarasota, Florida.^[1]

Milwaukee Brewers

Gennett playing for the Nashville Sounds, triple-A affiliates of the Brewers, in 2013

Gennett represented the Brewers at the 2012 All-Star Futures Game.^[2] Less than a year later, on June 3, 2013, he was recalled from the Nashville Sounds, and made his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics. Gennett collected his first major league hit, a single to right-center, in the bottom of the ninth inning, off of pitcher Jesse Chavez, on June 5.^[3] Gennett hit his first major league home run on June 14, against Bronson Arroyo, in his birthplace of Cincinnati.

Gennett was the left-handed part of a Milwaukee second base platoon (with Rickie Weeks) in 2014. The platoon ranked fourth in the National League in Wins Above Replacement at the All-Star Break.^[4] Gennett did well against right-handed pitching, but keeping with what became problematic for him as he moved up through the minors, he struggled against same-handed opponents with only four hits and one walk in 37 plate appearances versus lefties through the All-Star Break.^[5] On June 25, 2014, against the Washington Nationals, Gennett hit his first career grand slam off Stephen Strasburg. He finished the season in the majors.

After Weeks departed, Gennett started for the Brewers for the start of the 2015 season on Opening Day. In the game, he was the Brewers' primary second baseman. He started the season batting below .200 before going on the 15-day disabled list after cutting his hand in the shower.^[6] He was sent down to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the new Brewers AAA team.^[6] After spending about one month in the minors, he was recalled to the majors.^[6] Gennett and the Brewers avoided salary arbitration on December 3, 2016, by agreeing to a one-year, $2.525 million contract for 2017.^[7]

Cincinnati Reds

Gennett swinging in St. Louis, 2017.

On March 28, 2017, Gennett was claimed off of waivers by the Cincinnati Reds.^[8] On April 3, 2017, Gennett hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth on Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies.^[9] On June 6, 2017, Gennett hit a record-tying four home runs (including a grand slam) and had a career-high 10 RBI against the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the 17th player in MLB history and first in Reds history to hit four home runs in a game, and the seventh to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats in the same game. In the same game, he set a club record with 17 total bases.^[10]

Personal life

Gennett is a Christian.^[11] He is also an avid potter.^[12] Gennett gained his nickname^[13] Scooter from the character "Scooter" on the show "Muppet Babies" after a childhood incident with the police. As a child, he would constantly remove his seatbelt while travelling in the car, angering his mother. His mother then took Scooter to the police to attempt to scare him into keeping the seat belt on. When the police asked for Gennett's name, he replied with Scooter instead of his birth name, and has gone by it ever since.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scooter Gennett.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Scooter Gennett on Twitter