Mitch Haniger

Mitch Haniger

Haniger with the Arizona Diamondbacks
Seattle Mariners – No. 19
Outfielder
Born: (1990-12-23) December 23, 1990
Santa Clara, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 16, 2016, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Career statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average .229
Home runs 5
Runs batted in 17
Teams

Mitchell Evan "Mitch" Haniger (born December 23, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks. A collegiate All-American in 2012, Haniger was originally signed by the Milwaukee Brewers after selection in the supplemental section of the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He was traded to the Diamondbacks in 2014 while still a minor league prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2016.

Career

Collegiate and amateur wood bat teams

Mitch Haniger attended Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California, part of the West Catholic Athletic League.[1] Haniger was a star two-sport athlete for Archbishop Mitty, batting in the .370s and showing near the top among prep home run hitters on the diamond and racking up 75 catches for 789 yards and 5 touchdowns as a wide receiver on the school's football team.[1]

Haniger was recruited as an athlete by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), Cal State Fullerton, University of California, Berkeley, the University of Oregon, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis, all of whom wanted Haniger to play on their college baseball team.[2] The New York Mets selected Haniger in the 31st round of the 2009 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, but he did not sign with the team, choosing instead to enroll at Cal Poly, to play for the Cal Poly Mustangs.[3]

While at Cal Poly, Haniger played right field as a freshman and sophomore, and center field as a junior.[4] Haniger was named the 2010 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year following his debut season with the Mustangs,[5] a year in which he batted an impressive .325.[6]

Following his freshman season at Cal Poly, Haniger spent the summer of 2010 playing wood bat baseball as part of the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League, hitting .299 over 134 at bats with the team, racking up 11 stolen bases in 38 games played.[5] Haniger was named a member of the first-team All-WCL Team and was rated as the WCL's No. 5 pro prospect by Baseball America following the 2010 summer schedule.[5]

His sophomore season proved less successful at the plate than his freshman year, but Haniger nevertheless managed to bat .275.[6] He once again spent the summer playing wood bat collegiate ball, this time in the colors of the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League.[7] His summer work paid dividends, paving the way for an offensive explosion in 2012, during which spent much of the year heading the Big West Conference in the power categories of home runs, runs batted in, and slugging percentage.[6] Haniger finished the season with a .346 batting average, with league-leading totals of 13 home runs and 64 RBI.[7] Haniger won the league's highest plaudit, being named the 2012 Big West Conference Player of the Year[8] and gained national recognition as an All-American.

Minor leagues

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Haniger as a supplemental draft pick at the end of the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft — the 38th overall selection.[3][9] The pick with which Haniger was selected was awarded to the Brewers as partial compensation for the loss of slugger Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers in the winter of 2011-12.[7]

Haniger's signing bonus with the Brewers was $1.2 million — somewhat less than the $1.359 million bonus for his draft slot recommended by the MLB.[10] After signing with the Brewers, Haniger was dispatched to the team's affiliate in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he appeared in 14 games for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League.[11]

In 2013, Haniger began the season with Wisconsin, before being promoted to the Brevard County Manatees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. Combined, Haniger had a .264 batting average, a .348 on-base percentage, 11 home runs, and 68 runs batted in.[12] After the 2013 season, the Brewers assigned Haniger to play for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.[11][13] He was named co-player of the week, along with Kris Bryant, in the first week of the fall league season.[14]

The Brewers invited Haniger to spring training in 2014.[12] Failing to make the cut for the team's 25 man roster, Haniger was assigned to the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League to begin the season.[15]

On July 31, 2014, the Brewers traded Haniger and Anthony Banda to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gerardo Parra.[16] The Diamondbacks assigned him to the Mobile BayBears of the Southern League.[17] Haniger began the 2015 season with Mobile. Though he batted .281 for Mobile, the Diamondbacks demoted Haniger to the Visalia Rawhide of the Class A-Advanced California League in June so that he could play more frequently.[18][19]

Haniger began the 2016 season with Mobile, and was promoted to the Reno Aces of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League during the season.[20]

Major leagues

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks called up Haniger to the major leagues on August 16, 2016.[21] Haniger played his first major league game against the New York Mets on August 16, becoming the first Diamondbacks player to have a triple as his first major league hit.[5] Haniger also set a record as the first player in D'backs history to tally three RBIs in his inaugural game.[5]

Seattle Mariners

On November 23, 2016, the Diamondbacks traded Haniger, Jean Segura, and Zac Curtis to the Seattle Mariners for Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Mitch Stephens, "Top 100: Haniger is a Prophet with Power," Max Preps, www.maxpreps.com/ May 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Cal Poly's Mitch Haniger is armed and dangerous: Known for his powerful throwing arm, Haniger is now lethal with the bat". The Tribune. SanLuisObispo.com. May 10, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Scroggin, Joshua D. (June 4, 2012). "Cal Poly's Haniger taken by Milwaukee in the Major League Baseball draft | Cal Poly". The Tribune. SanLuisObispo.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ Fitt, Aaron (May 9, 2012). "College: On Campus: Mitch Haniger Brings The Power For Cal Poly". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Former Knights Outfielder Mitch Haniger Hits Way to Big Leagues," corvallisknights.com, Aug. 17, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Conor Mulvaney, "Haniger Leads Cal Poly Baseball," Mustang News, www.mustangnews.net, May 9, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Tom Haudricourt, "Brewers Go for Power in Draft: Milwaukee Takes Hitters Coulter, Roache, Haniger," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, June 4, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Cal Poly's Mitch Haniger named Big West Player of the Year". Ksby.com. May 29, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ McKenzie, Melissa; Haugh, Robert (July 2012). "Sports Briefs". The Santa Clara Weekly. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ Ronit Shah, "Milwaukee Brewers Sign Mitch Haniger," MLB Daily Dish [SB Nation], June 12, 2012.
  11. 1 2 "Bernie Pleskoff: Brewers prospect Mitch Haniger on fast track in Arizona Fall League | brewers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Prospects Mitch Haniger and David Goforth head Brewers' list of seven NRIs | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Mitch Haniger's slam lifts Surprise to Opening Day victory | brewers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. October 8, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Brewers prospect Mitch Haniger named Arizona Fall League Co-Player of Week | brewers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. October 15, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  15. ↑ Mark McCarter, "Mitch Haniger's Springtime Taste of Major Leagues Helps Fuel Desire to Progress,", The Birmingham News, May 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks trade Gerardo Parra to Milwaukee Brewers for prospects Mitch Haniger and Anthony Banda". Arizona Sports. July 31, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  17. ↑ Piecoro, Nick (August 22, 2014). "Mitch Haniger debuts for Arizona Diamondbacks farm club". azcentral. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks prospecs Mitch Haniger belts two homers, plates four for Visalia Rawhide - MiLB.com News - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Diamondbacks shake up Rawhide roster". Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register. June 27, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  20. ↑ http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/2016/07/27/haniger-gives-aces-some-pop/87603350/
  21. ↑ Clefo, "Mitch Haniger called up, Socrates Brito sent down," AZ Snake Pit [SB Nation], www.azsnakepit.com, Aug. 16, 2016.
  22. ↑ Perry, Dayn (November 23, 2016). "Mariners, D-Backs swap Taijuan Walker, Segura as part of 5-player trade: Arizona gets help in the rotation while Seattle lands an impact infielder". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
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