Derek Fisher (baseball)

Derek Joseph Fisher (born August 21, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Houston Astros. He attended the University of Virginia, where he played college baseball for the Virginia Cavaliers.

Derek Fisher
Fisher with the Houston Astros
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 23
Outfielder
Born: (1993-08-21) August 21, 1993
Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 14, 2017, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
(through September 15, 2020)
Batting average.194
Home runs17
Runs batted in52
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Amateur career

Fisher attended Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.[1] Playing for the school's baseball team, Fisher had a .440 batting average with nine home runs in his junior year, and was named to the all-state's first team. He also competed in national showcases. Baseball America ranked Fisher as the ninth-best high school prospect and best Pennsylvania prospect available in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft.[2] As a senior, he batted .484 with 11 home runs and 28 runs batted in (RBIs), and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Pennsylvania.[3] He was selected by the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the draft,[4] but did not sign. He enrolled at the University of Virginia to play college baseball for the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team.[5][6]

As a freshman, Fisher batted .288 with seven home runs and 50 RBIs, and was named a Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger and invited to participate in the College Home Run Derby.[5] In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named a league all-star.[7][8] Fisher was named a preseason All-American in 2014. In February 2014, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week.[9] On March 17, 2014, Fisher had surgery to remove a hamate bone from his right wrist,[10][11][12] which caused him to miss 25 games of the 2014 season.[13]

Professional career

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros selected Fisher with the 37th overall selection in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Astros, receiving a $1,534,100 signing bonus, and began his professional career with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League.[14][15] He batted .303 in 41 games for Tri-City, and was assigned to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League to start the 2015 season.[16] After he hit .305 with six home runs and 24 RBIs in 39 games, the Astros promoted Fisher to the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced California League. Fisher hit three home runs, including two grand slams, as he recorded a California League record 12 RBIs in his first game for Lancaster.[17]

Fisher in 2016

Fisher began the 2016 season with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League.[18] After he batted .245 with 16 home runs, 23 stolen bases, and 59 RBIs in 371 at-bats for Corpus Christi, the Astros promoted Fisher to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in August.[19] The Astros invited Fisher to spring training as a non-roster player in 2017.[20] He began the 2017 season with Fresno.[21]

The Astros promoted Fisher to the major leagues on June 14, 2017.[22] In his first game, he collected his first two hits, the first being a home run. In addition, the two hits came the same inning, making him the first player to do so since Adam LaRoche in 2004. He ended the day 2-for-3, and added two walks.[23] He collected his first career stolen base the following game at home against the Boston Red Sox.[24] The Astros optioned Fisher to the minor leagues, and he was selected to appear in the All-Star Futures Game.[25]

Fisher made the Astros' playoff roster, appearing primarily as a pinch runner. On October 30, in a game that started on October 29, he scored the game winning run in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series. The World Series would go on for 7 games, as the Astros successfully plowed through, winning the series for the first time.[26]

On March 24, 2018, the Astros announced that Fisher had made their 2018 Opening Day roster.[27] He struggled offensively and was ultimately demoted to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies, hitting .165 with four home runs, eleven RBI's, and an OPS of .602 in 42 MLB games. In 2019, Fisher appeared in only 17 games with the Astros, hitting .226 with an OPS of .675, before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the July 31 trade deadline.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 31, 2019, the Astros traded Fisher to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, and Cal Stevenson.[28] He hit .161 with 6 home runs in 40 games. Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Fisher batted .226 with 1 home run and 7 RBIs in 16 games.[29]

References
  1. Sam Getty photo (February 14, 2014). "All eyes on prospect Derek Fisher, Virginia baseball at the start: NCAA notebook". PennLive.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  2. Gross, Mike (September 11, 2013). "Scouts' eyes are on Fisher – Sports". lancasteronline.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. Durrett, Richard. "2011 MLB Draft – Dallas Texas Rangers Blog – ESPN Dallas". Espn.go.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. Tesfatsion, Master. "Derek Fisher – Dallas Texas Rangers Blog – ESPN Dallas". Espn.go.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. ESPN (July 3, 2012). "Former Cedar Crest and current University of Virginia baseball star Derek Fisher competing in College Home Run Derby tonight | PennLive.com". Blog.pennlive.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. Jeff Dewees. "Q&A: Derek Fisher, Univ. of Virginia baseball | PennLive.com". PennLive.com. Blog.pennlive.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  7. "#38 Derek Fisher - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  8. Russ Charpentier (July 26, 2013). "Cape League Extra: Profile of Derek Fisher". capecodtimes.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  9. "Broken wrist sidelines Cedar Crest grad Derek Fisher - Lebanon Daily News". Ldnews.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  10. Ramspacher, Andrew. "Fisher back in form for UVa-Florida State baseball - Roanoke Times: UVa Sports News". Roanoke.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. Ramspacher, Andrew (March 12, 2014). "Virginia baseball team loses Fisher to wrist injury - Cavalier Insider: Cavalier Insider". Dailyprogress.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  12. "UVa Starting Outfielder Derek Fisher Out 4-6 Weeks - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather". Nbc29.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  13. "Has Derek Fisher jumpstarted #1 UVa. baseball?". Augusta Free Press. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  14. "Astros' draft pick Derek Fisher has full day after signing". Ultimate Astros. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  15. "Former Cedar Crest slugger Derek Fisher signs with Houston Astros: Report". PennLive.com. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  16. Steve Batterson. "Fisher, Musgrove expect Bandits to continue their winning ways". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  17. Epler, Eric F. (May 31, 2015). "Houston Astros prospect Derek Fisher makes record-setting debut for High-A Lancaster". PennLive. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  19. The Fresno Bee (August 7, 2016). "Grizzlies Report for Aug. 7: Fresno 3, El Paso 1". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  20. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20170113&content_id=213463604&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb
  21. Bryant-Jon Anteola (April 8, 2017). "Astros prospect Derek Fisher excited to begin season with Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  22. Kaplan, Jake (June 14, 2017). "Astros call up outfield prospect Derek Fisher". Houston Chronucle. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  23. "Texas Rangers at Houston Astros Box Score, June 14, 2017 | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  24. "Boston Red Sox at Houston Astros Box Score, June 16, 2017 | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  25. http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/239483322/fisher-tucker-alvarez-astros-in-futures-game/
  26. McTaggart, Brian; Gurnick, Ken. "Houston Astros win 2017 World Series". MLB. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  27. "Astros set 2018 Opening-Day roster". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  28. "Astros acquire Greinke, Biagini, Sanchez in multiple trades today". MLB.com. July 31, 2019.
  29. https://www.mlb.com/player/derek-fisher-605233?stats=career-r-hitting-mlb&year=2020
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