Trevor Plouffe

Trevor Patrick Plouffe (/pluːf/ PLOOF; born June 15, 1986) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays, and Philadelphia Phillies. Plouffe was drafted by the Twins out of high school as a shortstop with the 20th overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft. After beginning his MLB career as a shortstop for the Twins in 2010, Plouffe has appeared at every position except for pitcher, catcher, and center fielder.

Trevor Plouffe
Plouffe with the Minnesota Twins
Third baseman
Born: (1986-06-15) June 15, 1986
West Hills, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 21, 2010, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
July 26, 2018, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Batting average.242
Home runs106
Runs batted in379
Teams
Medals
Men’s baseball
Representing  United States
Baseball World Cup
2009 Nettuno National team

Amateur career

Born in West Hills, California, Plouffe attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California, the alma mater of former major leaguers Jeff Suppan and Rick Dempsey. As a star shortstop and right-handed pitcher, Plouffe led Crespi to their first section baseball championship in 2003 as a junior[1] and also held a 3.8 GPA.[2] In 2003 he was 12-1 with an 0.71 ERA, and batted .500 with six home runs and 47 RBIs.[3] In 2004 he was 12-2 with an 0.86 earned-run average as a pitcher, and batted .481 with a .633 OBP, six home runs, and 29 runs batted in.[3] At Crespi High, Plouffe was named a 2004 Collegiate Baseball News High School All-American as a senior.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Plouffe was drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of high school as a shortstop with the 20th overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, and turned down a scholarship to the University of Southern California to play baseball. After signing for $1.5 million, Plouffe spent the 2004 season with the Rookie-level Elizabethton Twins. He batted .283/.340/.380 and was named the league's sixth-best prospect by Baseball America.

Plouffe spent 2005 with the Class A Midwest League's Beloit Snappers, where he batted .223/.300/.345 and was again recognized as one of the league's top prospects, this time ranking 12th overall.

In 2006, Plouffe played for the Class A-Advanced Fort Myers Miracle of the Florida State League, batting .246/.333/.347. During the season, he played third base in 25 games, the first time he had played a position other than shortstop as a professional.

In 2007, Plouffe was promoted to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats. He was chosen as the Twins' Minor League Player of the Week (April 27 – May 3), Eastern League Player of the Week (May 28 – June 3) and an Arizona Fall League Rising Star. In the Eastern League he batted .274/.326/.410, and was third in doubles (37).[4]

Plouffe split the 2008 season between the Rock Cats and Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, where he hit a combined .262/.308/.415 with nine home runs and 60 RBIs. With the Red Wings, he was used at second base as well as third base and shortstop. After the season, on November 20, Plouffe was added to the Twins' 40-man roster.[5]

In 2009, Plouffe spent the entire year in Rochester. He also returned to playing shortstop full-time while batting .260/.313/.407 in 118 games.

Minnesota Twins

After starting the 2010 season with Rochester, he was called up to the Twins on May 20, replacing pitcher Jeff Manship on the 25-man roster.[6] Plouffe started his first major league game for the Twins on May 21 against the Milwaukee Brewers, singling and driving in a run in his first big league at bat. Plouffe finished the season playing a total of 22 games while hitting just .146 in 41 at bats.

Plouffe returned to the Red Wings at the start of the 2011 season. After a fast start in which he batted .282 with 6 home runs in 21 games, Plouffe was called up on May 6. That day, he started at shortstop against the Boston Red Sox, and in his first at bat hit a home run over the Green Monster off of Tim Wakefield. In 81 games, Plouffe hit 8 home runs while hitting .238/.305/.392 for the Twins.

After starting the 2012 season poorly, Plouffe embarked on a power surge at mid-season, hitting 11 home runs in the month of June.[7][8] He became the Twins' everyday third baseman after Danny Valencia was demoted to Triple-A Rochester in early May. Plouffe hit a career-high 24 home runs while batting .235/.301/.455 in 119 games. He led the AL in errors, with 19.[9]

Plouffe was the starting third baseman for most of the 2013 season and played 129 games. He was somewhat inconsistent in both hitting and fielding despite hitting a career-high .254 for the Twins.[10]

Plouffe established career highs in several offensive categories in 2014, as well as improving his defense tremendously. He hit .258/14/80 with a career-high 40 doubles (4th in the AL), leading the team in both latter categories.

In 2015 he batted .244/.307/.435 with 22 home runs, and led the majors by grounding into 28 double plays.[9] Plouffe had a career-high 74 runs and 86 RBIs.[9]

In 2016 Plouffe batted .260/.303/.420 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs.[9] He was outrighted off the Twins roster after the 2016 season and became a free agent.[11]

Oakland Athletics

On January 18, 2017, Plouffe signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics.[12] He was designated for assignment on June 15, 2017.[13]

Tampa Bay Rays

On June 17, 2017, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Plouffe for cash considerations.[14] The team designated Plouffe for assignment on August 22. Between Oakland and Tampa Bay he batted .198/.272/.318.[15]

Texas Rangers

On February 12, 2018, Plouffe signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.[16] He was released on March 23,[17] and signed a new minor league contract with the Rangers on March 26.[18] On April 10, Plouffe asked for and was granted his release from the Rangers organization.[19]

Philadelphia Phillies

On April 23, 2018, Plouffe signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.[20] He had his contract purchased by the Phillies on July 10. On July 24, Plouffe hit a walk-off home run off Los Angeles Dodgers' second baseman Enrique Hernández in the bottom of the 16th to give the Phillies a 7–4 win in a game that took just over 6 hours to complete (the game ended at around 1 am local time). It was the first walk-off home run to be hit off a position player in MLB history.[21] Plouffe was designated for assignment on July 31, 2018,[22] and sent outright to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on August 5.[23] For the season with the Phillies, he was 3 for 12.[9] Plouffe declared free agency on October 5, 2018.[24] In the major leagues through 2018, he had played 611 games at third base, 55 games at shortstop, 47 games at first base, 27 games at second base, 27 games in right field, and 5 games in left field.[15]

On February 20, 2019, Plouffe re-signed with the Phillies to a minor league deal. However, he was released prior to the start of the season on March 21, 2019.

Media career

In April 2020, Plouffe joined the Jomboy Media network as a cohost and analyst on the podcast/YouTube show "Talkin' Baseball",[25] co-hosted by Jimmy "Jomboy" O'Brien, and Jake Storiale. The trio discuss "everything in Major League Baseball and the wide world of baseball several times per week". He also launched a YouTube show as a part of the same network called "Sequence with Trevor Plouffe", where he "brings former teammates and guests from around baseball to break down past performances."[26]

Personal

Plouffe and his wife Olivia were married at Pepperdine University's Stauffer Chapel. They have two children.[27]

References
  1. Sondheimer, Eric (June 8, 2003). "Plouffe Directs Crespi's Victory". Los Angeles Times.
  2. Sondheimer, Eric (May 21, 2003). "Plouffe a Magician With Bat and Arm". Los Angeles Times.
  3. Plouffe Delivers With Versatility - latimes
  4. 2007 Eastern League Batting Leaders | Baseball-Reference.com
  5. "Twins add eight to 40-man roster". Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  6. "Plouffe to start at shortstop for Twins; GoGo in center for the Brewers". Startribune.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  7. Trevor Plouffe surges to top of Twins power chart - San Jose Mercury News
  8. "Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins - Box Score - June 30, 2012 - ESPN". Scores.espn.go.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  9. Trevor Plouffe Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Twins' release of Plouffe among several moves". Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  12. Lee, Jane (January 18, 2017). "A's, Plouffe agree to 1-year contract". MLB.com. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  13. Lee, Jane (June 15, 2017). "A's promote prospect Chapman from Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  14. "Trevor Plouffe traded to Rays two days after being designated for assignment by A's". espn.com. June 17, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  15. Trevor Plouffe Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com
  16. Todd, Jeff (February 13, 2018). "Rangers Sign Trevor Plouffe". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  17. "Trevor Plouffe: Released by Rangers". cbssports.com. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  18. "Colon, Plouffe back on Minors deals". MLB.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  19. Adams, Steve (April 10, 2018). "Rangers Grant Trevor Plouffe His Release". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  20. Todd, Jeff (April 23, 2018). "Phillies to Sign Trevor Plouffe". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  21. Gatto, Tom (July 25, 2018). "Phillies walk off Dodgers in 16 with history-making home run; inside the weirdness". SportingNews.com. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  22. "Phillies' Aaron Loup: Dealt to Phillies". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  23. "Phillies Transactions". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  24. Todd, Jeff (October 8, 2018). "Players Electing Free Agency". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  25. "Talkin'Baseball". JomboyMedia. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  26. "Sequence with Trevor Plouffe". Jomboy Media. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  27. "Family is all Trevor Plouffe needed to straighten out his issues at the plate". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
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