Brett Sullivan

From BR Bullpen

Note: This page is for catcher Brett Sullivan who made his major league debut in 2023; for others with the same name, click here.

Brett Charles Sullivan

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Brett Sullivan played for the Italian national team before making his major league debut. He is the brother of Tyler Sullivan. [1]

He hit .459 as a high school junior and .386 with a .521 OBP as a senior. [2] He batted .239/.289/.353 as a college freshman then improved to .358/.404/.536 with 40 RBI in 53 games as a sophomore, winning All-West Coast Conference as a shortstop. [3] He was 4th in the WCC in RBI and tied Gio Brusa for 7th in RBI.

With the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League, he hit .281/.314/.397. As a junior, he produced at a .275/.314/.432 clip. He tied Tony Gonsolin for the WCC lead with five triples. He and his brother both went in the 2015 amateur draft; he was picked in the 17th round by the Tampa Bay Rays, one pick after Trey Wingenter. The scout was Alan Hull. [4]

Sullivan hit .260/.296/.483 for the 2015 Princeton Rays in his pro debut, with 47 runs and 20 doubles in 65 games. He fielded .900 at third base. He tied Eliezer Alvarez and Connor Goedert for third in the Appalachian League in doubles, tied Kevin Kaczmarski and Myles Straw for third in runs, tied Carlos Muñoz for third in homers and led in extra-base hits (34). [5] He led the league's third basemen in putouts (45), assists (108), double plays (12) and errors (17). [6]

Moving to catcher with the '16 Bowling Green Hot Rods, he batted .283/.314/.438 and threw out 38% of those who tried to steal. He led Midwest League backstops with 22 passed balls. [7] He had 75 runs, 34 doubles, 13 homers, 81 RBI and 17 steals in 21 tries. He tied Zander Wiel for third in the MWL in runs, tied Isan Díaz for 6th in two-baggers and tied Eloy Jiménez for second in RBI (five shy of Wiel). Austin Allen beat him out for the league All-Star honors behind the dish. Among Rays farmhands, he was 7th in runs, tied Casey Gillaspie for the most doubles and led in RBI (3 ahead of Jake Bauers).

He split 2017 between the Charlotte Stone Crabs (.301/.330/.463 in 83 G) and Montgomery Biscuits (.272/.302/.326 in 24 G). He stole 18 bases in 22 tries and drove in 74, while cutting his passed balls to 13 and his errors from 10 to 4. He was second in the Rays chain in RBI, 8 behind Jesús Sánchez. Baseball America rated him as having the best strike-zone judgement in the FSL. [8] He was named the league's All-Star backstop. [9] He hit .313/.375/.458 for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League with 11 RBI in 14 games, starting ahead of Nick Dini.

In 2018, he hit .266/.322/.380 and fielded .996 for the Biscuits while going 17-for-24 in steals. He tied Trey Michalczewski and José Rojas for 7th in the Southern League with 65 RBI. Returning to the Biscuits for a second season, he was moved to left field. He batted .280/.333/.459 with 21 steals in 26 tries. He made SL leaderboards in average (10th, between Alex Kirilloff and C.J. Hinojosa), slugging (8th, between Patrick Leonard and Cooper Hummel), doubles (25, tied for 6th) and steals (tied for 9th). He hit for the cycle, the first Biscuit to do so since Elliot Johnson in the 2006 postseason and the first to do so in the regular season. [10]

After the 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, he hit .243/.317/.405 for the Leones del Escogido in the 2020-2021 Dominican Winter League. Making it to AAA with the 2021 Durham Bulls, was back to catching regularly and hit .223/.302/.375. He batted .273/.360/.364 that winter for Escogido, splitting catching with Yainer Diaz. He was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers then traded with Korry Howell to the San Diego Padres for Victor Caratini. [11]

Sullivan batted .285/.339/.444 with 28 doubles, 73 runs and 81 RBI for the 2022 El Paso Chihuahuas, splitting catching with Luis Campusano and also playing left and DH. He tied Luis Liberato for 8th in the Padres chain in doubles, tied for 4th in triples (6) and tied Eguy Rosario for 5th in RBI. In the 2022 PCL, he tied for fifth in triples.

He then represented Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Hitting fifth in their opener against Cuba, he flew out his first time up, against Roenis Elías. He later hit a 6th-inning sac fly off Naykel Cruz to break a scoreless tie. The next game, he was 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs versus Taiwan. He finished the event at .368/.409/.368; his 7 hits tied for second on Italy behind Nicky Lopez. [12] He made his major league debut shortly after that, appearing in his first game for the San Diego Padres on April 18, 2023 as the starting catcher against the Atlanta Braves. He went 0 for 3 in an 8-1 loss. He hit his first career home run on May 3rd as part of a four-hit game in a 7-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He hit the homer off Alex Young.

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ Pacific bio
  2. ↑ ibid.
  3. ↑ ibid.
  4. ↑ 2021 Rays Media Guide, pg. 247
  5. ↑ ibid.
  6. ↑ 2016 Baseball Almanac
  7. ↑ 2017 Baseball Almanac
  8. ↑ 2021 Rays Media Guide, pg. 247
  9. ↑ MILB.com
  10. ↑ 2021 Rays Media Guide, pg. 247
  11. ↑ MLB.com
  12. ↑ World Baseball Classic

Further Reading[edit]

  • AJ Cassavell: "29-year-old rookie's first MLB homer blows up his phone: Sullivan also collects his first four RBIs and first double against the Reds", mlb.com, May 3, 2023. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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