Ryan Schimpf

Ryan Michael Schimpf (born April 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB).

High school and college

Schimpf attended St. Paul's School in Covington, Louisiana, and Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college baseball for the LSU Tigers.^[1] With LSU, Schimpf was a member of the 2009 College World Series champions.^[2]

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Schimpf batting for the Lansing Lugnuts in 2010

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Schimpf in the fifth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft.^[1] He signed with the Blue Jays and was assigned to the Gulf Coast Blue Jays for two games before being promoted to the Short Season-A Auburn Doubledays. In 36 total games in 2009, Schimpf batted .293 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI.^[3] In 2010, Schimpf played for the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts and later the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, hitting .237 with 8 home runs and 52 RBI in a combined 110 games.^[3] He was named a mid-season All-Star for Lansing.^[4] Schimpf began the 2011 season on the disabled list, not appearing in a minor league game until June 9.^[4] In 57 games played for Dunedin that year, he hit .240 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI.^[3]

Schimpf began 2012 with Dunedin, and was named a mid-season All-Star for the second time in his career. In late July, he earned a promotion to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, where he finished the 2012 campaign.^[4] In a career-high 129 games played, Schimpf batted .269 with 22 home runs and 76 RBI.^[3] Schimpf played the entire 2013 season with New Hampshire, where he hit .210, 23 home runs, and 65 RBI in 126 games.^[3] He would split time in 2014 with New Hampshire and the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, appearing in 117 games and hitting .227 with 24 home runs and 58 RBI.^[3] In the offseason, Schimpf appeared in 26 games for the Venados de Mazatlán of the Mexican Pacific League.^[3] Schimpf split the 2015 season between Double-A and Triple-A again, and in 107 games hit .250 with 23 home runs and 63 RBI.^[3]

San Diego Padres

Schimpf became a free agent after the 2015 season, and signed with the San Diego Padres.^[5] Schimpf began the 2016 season with El Paso in Triple-A, a level where he didn't have much success. In 98 games at the level with Buffalo over two seasons, Schimpf hit .193 with 12 HR and 28 RBI. However, Schimpf tore up Pacific Coast League pitching to begin the year, hitting .355/.432/.729 with 15 HR and 48 RBI in 51 games before his call-up, his slugging percentage and 1.160 OPS leading the league at the time. He had even earned Player of the Week honors in the PCL on June 5.^[6]

The Padres promoted Schimpf to the major leagues on June 14, 2016,^[7] making his debut that night against the Miami Marlins at third base. Schimpf hit his first career home run on July 1 against the New York Yankees.^[8] On July 24, Schimpf set a Padres rookie record by slugging his ninth home run of the calendar month. He hit his record-breaking home run against Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley to tie the game in the eighth inning, leading to a 10-6 Padres victory.^[9] Through July 27, his 9 home runs also lead the entire league for the month of July.^[10] Schimpf won the National League Rookie of the Month Award for July.^[11] On August 12, 2016, Schimpf hit his first career grand slam off of New York Mets starting pitcher Logan Verrett.^[12]

References

External links

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